Once Upon a Dream
by MadaleineWinchester
Summary: Eleanor's destiny is turned right round when she finds out her life was all lies. She's plummeted into a new life and a new way of living. Ancient magic returns and everybody is after Eleanor, unbeknownst to her. But why is she so special? What things await in Camelot? And will she get her happy ending? Full summary inside. I'm bad at summaries but give me a try! [Arthur/OC]
1. Life of Lies

**Full Summary: **Eleanor's destiny is turned right round when she finds out her life was all lies. She's plummeted into a new life and a new way of living. Ancient magic returns and everybody is after Eleanor, unbeknownst to her. But why is she so special? What things await in Camelot? And will she get her happy ending?Somewhere along the lines, she ends up falling in love with the one person who managed to save her and protect her. What obstacles will she face on her journey?

**A/N: **Hello guys! This is my first ever Merlin fanfic and I hope you like it. I tried my best to make it interesting (I've never actually published anything). Please do review and I also don't mind constructive criticism. Since I am new to this, be kind! :) Anyway, enjoy the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Merlin (Although I wish I did, especially Arthur). Any characters that do not belong to the Merlin series are owned by me.

**Eleanor's Appearance:** For anybody who likes to use visual references, search up Lauren Conrad. I am basing Eleanor's appearance on her. So basically, Eleanor looks like Lauren Conrad but with a medieval-ish touch. ;)

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It was a sunny morning in the village of Albury. Eleanor slowly stood up from her uncomfortable, straw made bed and clenched her head as she did.

"_Another one of those throbbing headaches. Absolutely great." _she thought to herself.

She walked towards the pots and strange plants that were sat upon a table, looking for any strange concoctions that her father would make for her headaches. The herbs she needed had run out. She realised her father wasn't at home. Knowing exactly what he'd be up to, she looked out of the small window to find him outside watering crops and feeding chickens.

And as she watched her father work, she began to lose herself in her thoughts. Being the daughter of a farmer, food and money didn't come easy. Her days were filled with tiring chores; collecting herbs and helping her father harvest crops were just part of an even longer list. Even with two other siblings to help, their hard work conjoined was never enough. Reynard was a tradesman and Amicia often helped her father.

"Eleanor?" Interrupted from her thoughts, she turned around to find Reynard looking at her rather oddly.

"Oh, have I been gazing out of the window for too long?" She asked.

"Yes, you have," He smirked at her, "Anyway, I'm heading out. Look after yourself El." He picked up a leather bag and off he went.

She turned her attention back to her father. She couldn't help but wish things were better than they were.

Eventually, she grabbed a leather satchel bag and walked out of the cruck house, heading towards her father who was still hard at work.

"Father, I'm heading to the forest to find some herbs for this headache of mine. I promise I won't be long." He nodded gently and she gave him a soft peck on the cheek and headed onwards into the forest.

0000

The last herb she needed was quite hard to find. She wrestled past branches that swooped down and almost got her shoe stuck in a puddle of mud.

After about an hour of searching, she came across a large patch of the last herb she needed, sitting just behind a large boulder. She bent down and started to pick the plant and placing what she collected into her bag.

When she finished, she stood up and closed her bag. She turned around, ready to head back, only to be startled and find a cloaked woman standing a few metres away from her. The woman walked closer towards her and Eleanor felt intimidated by her presence.

"Do not worry, my lady. I will not harm you," She spoke with gentleness in her voice. "I have come to tell you good news."

Eleanor continuously gazed at the woman, not knowing exactly how to respond. The woman proceeded to speak anyway.

"Eleanor, you have grown immensely." A smile stretched upon her wrinkly face.

"How do you know my name? I'm sorry, do I know you?" Eleanor asked, puzzled.

"I have no time to explain that. I have been sent to help you. Eleanor, this is not the way your life is meant to be. You are destined for much greater. You are in fact a princess."

There was a pause. Eleanor stood frozen. She couldn't quite put together what she had just heard.

"Ridiculous. I don't know what you want or what you are trying to prove. I do not trust people in hooded cloaks who scare people. If you excuse me, I shall be heading back." She said. The woman laughed. Eleanor was stopped in her tracks when the woman spoke once again.

"Eleanor, I shall explain and then maybe you will understand."

She turned her back to face the strange woman.

"You are the daughter of Alain, king of Darcia, a kingdom not too far from here. Your mother, Bertha, abandoned you in this very forest when you were a baby," she paused but then continued. "A revengeful sorcerer put a spell on your mother, which allowed the sorcerer to control her."

There was a moment of silence once again and all you could hear was the rustling of the leaves in the trees.

"She had no idea what she was doing, her memory wiped once the spell was broken. A search party was sent out to look for you. For days there was nothing, no news. You were declared dead. You cannot imagine the heartbreak it caused to your parents. Luckily though, you were found by a farmer and he took you in as his daughter. I am here to change your destiny, to put everything back in its place."

Eleanor stood there in complete and utter shock. It seemed ridiculous, and it _was_ ridiculous. It's not often you are approached by a strange lady who tells you you're living the wrong life.

"We cannot control our destiny. Our lives have been planned even before we are born."

"You are right. Humans cannot control their destiny, but magic can." And as the woman said that, Eleanor knew she was standing before a sorceress. Her father told countless stories of evil sorcerers and terrible magic that lurked in the village.

"And what exactly would you do?" Eleanor asked curiously. The woman lowered her cloak which had rested on her grey hair, revealing her worn face. She gave a warm smile.

"Take this," she stretched out her hand and handed Eleanor a strange, bottled potion. "Drink it when you get home. Once consumed, you will remember only the important information. I promise it is worth it."

"Important information?" Eleanor repeated.

"Yes. I must go now. Take care, my lady."

"Wait! You have not answered me." She yelled as the woman walked away from her.

Eleanor got no response. The answer she needed remained unknown. As quickly as the woman appeared, she was gone.

0000

I must have spent a good 2 hours in the forest because as soon as I reached home, my father, or shall I say, my guardian had a worried face on.

"My dear Eleanor, where have you been?" He asked with a crackly voice as he reached out and grabbed my hands.

"Don't worry, father. I'm fine. I've found the herbs I need." I smiled and opened the satchel to show him what I collected. The bottled potion remained hidden beneath all the plants. He smiled back at me.

"Alright." He said, as he let his hand rest on my shoulder for a second before getting back to work.

I entered the small house, looked around and sat down on one of the wooden chairs. So much had happened in a small amount of time.

"_What on earth have I just witnessed? It does seem far-fetched."_ I thought to myself. I opened my satchel, dug into the bag and took out the bottled potion. I rattled it, staring at it as the blue liquid whirled around. At first, I was going to dispose it. I couldn't possibly consume something given to me from a strange, old lady. Yet for some reason, I sensed truth in her words.

I removed all the herbs from my satchel and placed them in the pots. My headache had gone completely. I opened the bottle and a strange smell rose into the air. Not really thinking about the possible consequences for my curiosity, I drank the potion in one gulp.

I headed straight to my bed and laid my head down. I was a little worried to find out what the side effects were going to be. I closed my eyes to get some rest. In an instant, I was out.

The last thing I remember was seeing lights, blinding lights. Then there was movement, faces, whispering. I couldn't make out what was happening or what was being said. I remember clearly seeing a woman holding a baby and the sound of bells ringing. Then there was a sense of panic. Everything felt fast-forwarded. Then I heard loud laughing and I could see myself playing, jumping around, and looking rather happy. I had no clue what I was seeing. It didn't make any sense to me at the time.


	2. En Route to Camelot

**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Here is Chapter 2. Don't forget to review! :)**  
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My eyes felt tired and heavy. I felt slightly dizzy since everything seemed to be going around in circles. As I started to become aware of my surroundings, I noticed I was lying on a large and rather comfy bed.

I immediately got up. "_Well, this is odd."_ I looked down to find myself dressed in an elegant, white nightgown. I walked around the chamber. Beautiful oak furniture filled the room, a huge fireplace sat in the corner and the draping curtains were certainly made of the smoothest silk I had ever seen.

I walked towards the window to find myself looking at a beautiful, green landscape. Down below stood guards in chainmail guarding a huge gate, which I presumed to be the entrance of the castle. It seemed to be a normal day; knights were preparing horses and servants walked around, each with different tasks.

I tried to figure out why I was here. _"I remember this place, but I'm sure I've never been here…" _I pondered. No matter how hard I forced myself to remember anything, I just couldn't. My mind was blank.

The door opened and I twizzled round to find a young woman, about the same age as me, standing there and smiling at me. "Mother called me over to see if you were already awake. Father wants to speak to us at the table."

I looked at her and a sudden rush of memories came back to me. I remember playing with her as a child, fiddling with her hair, laughing and giggling and playing pranks on some of the knights.

I started to feel strangely confused. I had never actually met her yet it felt like I had known her all my life. It was hard to explain. It felt like memories had been injected into my brain but I had never actually witnessed those memories happen in real life.

Then it came to me suddenly. The woman that stood before me was my sister, Ida.

"What? Is it something on my face?" Ida said, reaching out for her face.

"No Ida, it's nothing," I paused. "Why does father need to speak to us?"

"I have no idea, but you'd better get dressed," She left for a few seconds until her head popped back into the room. "Oh, and your hairs a mess." We both laughed. She was right; I looked myself in the mirror to find my dirty blonde hair all over the place.

"I'll get dressed; tell father I'll be ready in five minutes."

Ida nodded at me and closed the door behind her. Slowly, more and more information started to come to me. I started to remember a lot: the place where I lived, my family and all my friends. _"I hope these migraines of mine haven't affected my brain."_

I reminded myself that people were waiting for me and that I needed to get dressed quickly. I hadn't opened the wardrobe yet. When I did, I was almost overwhelmed by the amount of dresses and gowns there were. I picked out the first dress that caught my eye, done up my hair in a bum and headed out of my chamber.

I stood by the huge doorway of the dining hall until my presence was finally acknowledged.

"Ah, my darling Eleanor, you have finally arrived." My father said, giving me the warmest smile. My mother, who was seated right beside him also smiled. In front of them, a long table filled with the finest food. My parents and two siblings only occupied a small end of the table.

"Sit, Eleanor," My mother pointed at the spare seat next to Ida. Opposite Ida was my older brother, Jasper. "Do eat. Today is going to be a busy day."

I wondered to the spare seat beside Ida and my father proceeded to talk. Many servants were wondering about, adding even more food to the table, which I thought was unnecessary. I felt pity for them, working this hard for nothing. I wasn't even hungry and it didn't seem like anybody was eating much.

"Ida, Eleanor, Jasper. We shall be heading out to Camelot today. As you all know, Uther is a dear friend of mine. As it has been many years since I have last seen him, he has invited us to his kingdom."

"Shall I help prepare the horses and any equipment we will be using, father?" Jasper immediately stood up from his seat.

"Nonsense, son. That is why we have servants. They will get the job done in no time." My father simply patted Jasper on the back and he sat down at the table once again. You could tell Jasper was disappointed by the look on his face.

Father then looked at me and Ida with a grin. "And maybe this could be an opportunity for you both to find a man, aren't I right?" He said sipping wine from his silver chalice.

"Don't worry about me father. On the other hand, Ida has probably planned something already." I elbowed her and she gave me an angry look. Ida was flirty - if anything.

"Your best joke to date." She said sarcastically.

"That's quite enough. Get yourselves looking presentable and be sure to appear at the courtyard early." My mother spoke.

We all got up from our chairs and headed our own ways. I headed to my chamber to fix my hair and change my dress. Camelot was a magical kingdom, from what I had heard. Many praised its king, Uther, for his loyalty and trustworthiness. My father and Uther probably got on with each other for one reason; their hatred for magic.

I rushed to the courtyard to find Jasper and Ida mounting their horses already. I picked a horse and one of the knights helped me mount it.

"It'll probably take about 2 days to reach Camelot, sire." One of the knights in chainmail said, handing a map to my father.

"We better head off then. Lead the way, Sir Gwynne."

The knight led the way and the rest of the horses started to trot onwards. Every time I looked back, the Kingdom of Darcia became smaller and smaller until it was completely out of sight.

"_I have a feeling Camelot is going to be an interesting place."_

0000

The large gates were opened and one by one, each of the tired horses entered what seemed to be a new world. We had arrived at Camelot, after 2 long days of travelling. A couple of men and women stood by the steps that lead into the castle. My father immediately got off from his horse to greet Uther.

"It is a great pleasure to see you Alain! It has been so long," Uther greeted rather loudly, hugging my father. "Ah, Bertha, looking as beautiful as ever." Uther complimented my mother.

"Why thank you, Uther." She smiled warmly.

"It is a great pleasure to be in Camelot," My father replied. "These are my children. Ida, Jasper and Eleanor." As he spoke our names, father gestured his hand towards us.

"Very nice to meet you, sire." Jasper bent down his head in courtesy. Ida followed and I did too. I turned my gaze to the man, who I presumed to be the prince, stood next to the king. We shared a quick glance. I quickly diverted my gaze to his left. His manservant, I presumed.

"Please, enter. The servants have prepared a meal for us to celebrate your arrival." We walked up the steps and entered the castle. It was a maze of long corridors, tall pillars and huge walls. Everywhere you looked, Camelot's seal was sewn onto red banners that hung all over the rock walls.

We had finally reached what seemed to be a large ballroom. It was filled with many tables and there was a special one, just for the king and his close family. Each table contained staggering amounts of food and wine. It was almost like back home, except there was even _more_ food and even _more_ servants wondering about.

Musicians started to play pleasantly soft music as we all entered and took our seats. I was seated next to my siblings while my parents seemed to have a never ending conversation with Uther on the king's table. The table was positioned on the far end of the room.

After some small talk, eating and little bit of drinking, I realised it was already getting quite dark outside, but it didn't stop the celebration. The ballroom was still filled with the loud noise of people talking and musicians playing music.

"Not drinking anything?" Ida raised an eyebrow at me, taking probably the hundredth sip of wine for the night.

"Only a little. You seem to be having a lot of fun." I pointed out.

"A lot of fun," she turned her gaze to a rather muscly knight with black hair that reached his ears. He was seated at one of the tables opposite us and she winked flirtatiously at him. She turned back to face me. "Look at those muscles! I think I might just faint."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Go on then, you might as well go flirt with him." I poked her arm, gesturing for her to go.

"No, no, no. I must play hard to get. Have you not learnt anything from me, Eleanor? I do not chase men, men chase me." She chuckled, sipping wine once again.

"If you say so." I grinned.

I surveyed the room; I noticed the table my parents were sat on was now surrounded by many women, all giggling and talking with somebody at the table. As some of them got out of the way, I realised what all the commotion was all about.

"The prince? Good choice El." Ida said jokingly. She had noticed I was looking at him from afar.

"What? I can't look at somebody without you thinking I'm interested? Honestly, Ida." I snapped at her.

"Calm down El, who said you were interested?" She smiled. Great, the last thing I needed was Ida teasing me and probably making a fool of me. And to top it all off, she was already getting pretty drunk.

Jasper was off flirting with some of the women. Ida eventually got bored of me and went off to seduce men for the night. Well, at least that was what I presumed.

A couple of minutes went by when a rather beautiful woman approached me. Her eyes could easily have been mistaken for emeralds and her black hair was so neatly placed on her shoulders.

"I'm Morgana," She said. "I noticed your siblings have left you all alone. I thought I might introduce myself. I hope I'm not being a bother." Morgana dragged the chair from underneath the table and sat on it.

"Oh, not at all," I reassured her. "I'm Eleanor. It's very nice to meet you, Morgana." I gave her a warm smile.

"So, what do you think of this celebration?" The lady asked me.

"It's great. I've never been to a celebration this big. Everyone seems to be very kind."

"Almost everyone," she giggled. "For example, Arthur is quite the arrogant prince. A lot of the servants here gossip a lot too."

I was taken aback by her remark. It seemed she was already pretty comfortable around me to admit something like that.

"Just like my brother, Jasper."

"It must be a prince thing." We both laughed.

After talking a bit about my siblings, I mentioned Camelot. "I would love to see more of the kingdom." I said.

"I'm sure you do. Tomorrow I shall give you a special tour around the castle. Accepted?" I nodded at her.

We talked for the rest of the night. I started to feel a lot more comfortable around everyone here. I couldn't wait to find out what sort of people I would meet in Camelot.


	3. Ouch, That Hurt

**A/N: **Review please! Anyway, enjoy Chapter 3. :) Oh and If you do not like my writing style, do tell me. I really want to improve. I think I write too much dialogue. Hmmm.

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"I hope you slept well." Morgana said, mounting her black horse. Next to it was an elegant brown horse.

"Very well. I can't wait to ride the horses and see more of Camelot." I stroked the brown horse's nose and it snuggled its face into my chest.

"Come on Merlin, hurry up with that saddle," Merlin sighed as he fiddled with it, trying to get it to tighten. Morgana turned her attention back to me. "Uther hates it when I leave the grounds unattended."

"But you're with me, he shouldn't worry." I wasn't too scared of horse riding in forests and I controlled a sword pretty well, well enough to defend myself.

"I know. But he says I must always leave the grounds with a knight, you know, to protect me." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure he only does it because he cares about you, Morgana." I smiled at her, trying to lighten the situation up a bit.

"That's the problem. He cares too much."

"The horse is ready, Princess Eleanor. Sorry to keep you both waiting." Merlin said to me and then bowed.

"Thank you very much, Merlin." He smiled and then wondered off. I climbed onto my horse and rested comfortably on the saddle.

"Oh, that's Merlin, Arthur's manservant." She pointed out. My initial thoughts about him were correct.

"He seems nice."

"Yes, he really is. Race?" Morgana glanced at me and raised an eyebrow.

"I'll win for sure."

But she darted off so quickly. Morgana had a bit of a head start.

After racing into the depths of the forest, she eventually let her horse slow its pace to reach me and our horses started to trot gracefully in sync.

"Next time, Morgana," I smiled at her. Before I knew it, the horses had reached a beautiful lake. The way it reflected the sunlight only made the water look even more magical. Camelot really was magnificent. "This is absolutely beautiful!"

"Isn't it just? I come here sometimes. Camelot can be really stressful sometimes."

"I can imagine so," We watched the waters move gently for a quite a bit. "Rematch? I'll win this time." I was expecting a reply from her but instead she whipped her horse and off she went. Once again, she was in the lead.

"Hey, not fair!" I shouted at her as I whipped my horse too. I was speeding through the forest and could see her turning her head at me and laughing. She was way ahead of me; there was no way my horse could catch up. With a few whips, my horse managed to reach Morgana and then gallop faster. Her horse became inevitably tired and slowed its pace. I could see the castle nearing.

"Hurry up, Morgana!" I turned my head to look at her and continued to watch to make sure she wasn't catching up with me.

_Thump!_

The next thing I knew, I fell off my horse rather dramatically and landed straight onto the leafy, muddy forest floor.

"Eleanor!" Morgana's loud shriek was the last thing I heard.

0000

I woke up to the sounds of whispering and somebody touching my face frequently. _"What happened?"_

"Is she alright?" I hear Morgana say.

"She seems to be waking up," An old man replied. "My lady, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

I opened my eyes wider to see an old man sat beside me, analysing my face.

"Yes, I'm alright… Um, where am I?" The old man's faded, grey eyes widened a little and turned to look at Morgana who had a worried face too.

"You don't know where you are? You're in Camelot."

"I know that," I stated. "I meant, what happened? The last thing I remember was riding into the forest." He suddenly looked relieved.

"It seems you've had an accident, my lady. Morgana tells me that your saddle seemed to have loosened."

I sat up on the bed. More people started to enter the room. My mother, Merlin and even Prince Arthur entered. I clutched my head. I felt a bump.

"Gaius, is she fine?" Merlin asked nervously.

"Eleanor, what happened?" My mother asked, almost panicking. She rested her hand on my forehead.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine. And I think I hit my head, nothing major." I reassured them both.

"How exactly did she fall, Gaius?" The Prince asked the old man.

"Morgana tells me it was the saddle. It wasn't properly fitted onto the horse apparently."

Merlin stared at his feet and began to go bright red. It only took one glance at him for the Prince to realise he had done something foolish.

"Merlin! Don't tell me _you _were the one who put the saddle on the horse."

"I…"

"Can't you do one thing right for once? The princess could have been seriously hurt!" Arthur scowled at him. I felt I needed to intervene.

"What matters is that I am fine. Merlin was only doing his job. Please do not blame him for my fall."

Almost completely ignoring what I had said, he ordered Merlin to leave and to finish off some chores.

"All she needs is some rest now." Gaius said. My mother planted a soft kiss on my forehead before eventually leaving the room.

"Your highness, honestly, I am well. There was no need to be harsh on him."

"Eleanor, you could have fallen really badly. Who knows what could have happened." Morgana now seemed to be supporting Arthur.

"Morgana is right. Cleaning out all the horse stables should be enough punishment," He grinned at his remark. Poor Merlin, I felt a little guilty. "Oh, and its Arthur. I don't think we've greeted each other properly."

"Eleanor." I smiled. He reached out and left a delicate kiss on the back of my hand.

"It is nice to meet you, Eleanor. I'll be leaving. You'll need some rest." He said, pointing out the bump that had enlarged on my head.

Arthur left the chamber and Morgana followed. I was now left alone with Gaius.

I stared at the ceiling for quite a while and got bored pretty quickly. I didn't see what all the fuss was about. I was absolutely fine.

"Honestly, Gaius, I don't need to rest," I stood up and showed him that I wasn't completely disoriented. "It's just a bump. It'll go." He gazed at me quizzically.

"I guess you don't look too dizzy. And that bump should disappear in a week. Just be careful, my lady."

"Thank you Gaius. And please, call me Eleanor. I don't really like the whole 'my lady' thing."

"Of course, Eleanor." He smiled at me and I eventually walked out of the room.

As I wondered away from Gaius' chamber, I encountered Arthur who was talking to a knight. I wanted to completely avoid being asked how I was, so I turned back to go the other way.

"Eleanor," My name was called and it echoed in the corridor. I sighed and turned around to see Arthur approaching me. "What are you doing, wondering about? Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm fine. Gaius said I could leave his chamber. I appreciate the concern, your highness."

"Is that why you seem to be limping?" He raised an eyebrow. Okay, maybe my leg did hurt a little. I rolled my eyes at him.

"It doesn't hurt that much, your highness." I wiggled my leg a little which seemed to be amusing to him.

"It's Arthur," he mentioned once again. "Need help to get back to Gaius' chamber?"

"No, Arthur. I won't be heading to Gaius' chamber. No damsels in distress to save today." I hadn't noticed I spoke with a bit of harshness in my voice.

"If you say so, Eleanor." He smiled. There was an awkward silence and I was now looking into his blue eyes.

"Well, I must go now." I broke the silence and turned around to walk away. I gave him a little wave and he too waved. Thankfully, I didn't come across anybody else on the rather long walk to my chamber.

I entered my chamber and closed the door behind me. I landed straight onto my bed and dozed off.

0000

"Eleanor…" Someone whispered softly. "Eleanor…"

My eyes opened and I was startled to find myself lying on forest floor. I patted my face, almost to check if I was really lying in a forest. It was dark and it was a starry night.

"Hello." A woman spoke. I turned around and there she was, cloaked and staring at me with her beady eyes. She was grinning at me.

"Why am I here?" I was now frantically scanning my surroundings, figuring out where I was and how I got there. I started to panic.

"Remember me?"

I examined the woman and I was almost certain I had never met her.

"I thought you wouldn't. How is Camelot?" The woman questioned.

"Um… It's nice. I don't know what you want."

"I don't want anything, my lady. I'm sorry to interrupt your dreams like this but there really was no other way I could reach you."

"My dreams? What do you mean? You're in my head?"

"Yes. This is an imaginary world you made. This is all a dream." She now walked towards what seemed to be a well.

"Please, come over, my lady." She told me politely. Uncertain, I walked to the well she was now standing next to.

"Look," Her bony fingers disturbed the surface of the water. As the water began to settle once again, an image started to appear. "You may recognise them."

My eyes widened as I gazed in amazement at how the woman made images appear on the water. I could see a short lady and an old man sitting together. Then the image of a large, muscled boy appeared with a girl standing alongside him. But I couldn't figure out who I was looking at.

"I don't know these people." I told her.

"They are your family. Your previous family. Everything is much different."

"No they are not. I have never seen them before."

"Look again."

And so I examined the images that would appear once again and concentrated on the faces, figuring out who they were. My mind was still blank.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea."

"That's a good sign then. Well if it matters to you, they are fine now. Their lives have improved greatly," She touched the water and the images stopped appearing. "I must go now. I don't want to keep you any longer."

"Did you come in my dreams just to tell me that? I don't understand."

"I do have one more thing to say: Camelot is where you truly belong. These next few weeks, many things about your life may change. You will learn many things as well."

"Could you tell me what those things will be?" I asked curiously.

"That would ruin the suspense," she chuckled. "I really must go now. Goodbye, my lady." She smiled at me. Everything slowly started to fade until all I saw was blackness.


	4. It Starts With A Spark

**A/N: **A _huge_ thanks to** JohnCenaRkoFanForever** and **PaddySimcoxSmiles **for being my first reviewers! I didn't expect to get any reviews on the day I published my story but somehow I did. The reviews have made me want to update. Don't forget to leave me a review. (I'm actually really excited to see where this story will go). Anyway, enjoy Chapter 4. :)

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A bright light shined upon my face and the smell of some sort of soup filled the room. I was back in my chamber lying on my bed with the covers all over the place.

"I'm sorry to interrupt so rudely, my lady," The lady had opened the curtains and placed some food on the table. "I have made you breakfast."

"Oh you have not interrupted at all. And thank you, um…"

"Gwen." She smiled innocently.

"Thank you, Gwen. How long have I been sleeping?" I remembered talking to Arthur and then dozing off in my chamber.

"For quite long actually. Your mother and sister came to see you. Morgana did too. Did you have a bad dream? You were shuffling a lot, my lady." She said with concern.

"Yes, but it was more of a strange dream than a bad one." My mind then concentrated on what the woman had told me: changes in my life and learning life lessons. Yes, it did frighten me a bit because I had no idea who she was or what was in store for me in Camelot. I wondered if it was a good idea to tell Gwen about the dream. That's when I remembered about the hatred for magic around here.

"_She'll think you're mad, communicating with a sorceress through your dreams like that."_ I got up from the bed and headed towards the table where a bowl of green soup and some fruit were placed. I sat down and dug in.

"How has been Camelot been treating you, my lady?" Gwen asked.

"Nicely. I like it here." I took a small bite into the bread.

"I'm glad," she wiped her hands on her stained apron she had tied around her tiny waist. "Have you heard of the jousting tournament taking place today?"

I turned my gaze to her in curiosity. "No. Who will be participating?"

"Your brother Jasper, a few of the knights and Prince Arthur too."

"Though I think jousting is dangerous, I'll be there to watch."

"Participating is seen as a sign of bravery," Gwen told me. In my eyes, jousting was nothing but a way to get yourself hurt. "I must head back to the kitchen, my lady. Eat well." She smiled and left my chamber.

Once I was finished eating, I wanted to head down to the courtyard. I dressed myself in a gown which I randomly picked out and neatened my hair a little.

When I reached the courtyard there was a huge commotion. There were knights on horses, others scurrying around and armour being polished. I noticed Merlin was carrying helmets and almost tripped over himself. When I finally spotted Jasper, I headed straight to him.

"El, you alright? Sorry I couldn't see you last night." He was now looking down at me and looked really tall because he had mounted his horse.

"If somebody asks me if I'm alright one more time, I think I won't be alright." I joked.

He laughed. "Sorry again. Are you here to see your amazing brother joust?"

"Do I smell arrogance?"

"That must be the smell of victory." A wide grin spread across his face.

"Jasper, do be careful. I don't see what's so brave about jousting."

He sighed before responding. "I must show that I am not a coward. I am neither frightened nor intimidated at all anyway."

"Good luck then." I walked towards Merlin, who was polishing Arthur's boots. Arthur was telling him off about something.

"Merlin you fool, my left boot isn't shiny yet." He pointed out.

"It looks shiny." I mentioned. They both turned around, almost surprised to see me.

"Hello, Eleanor." Merlin smiled. I smiled back.

"My boot, Merlin," Arthur pointed to his already polished boots. Merlin went back to scrubbing them. "Eleanor, here to see the jousting tournament?"

"Yes, I am," I told him. I looked down at Merlin. "You make Merlin work so hard." Merlin sighed but he kept his mouth shut.

"Servants are servants. And I'm glad you will be present." Morgana was right, he did seem arrogant.

"I shall see you on the jousting field then." His face seemed to have lightened.

I decided I wanted to get out of Arthur's way before he would probably start bragging about himself and his skills. I began to search for my sister. As I wondered about, a few of the knights fixated their gaze on me. They would whisper something to one another and then gaze at me once again. I started to feel uncomfortable. At last, I saw Ida talking to my mother. I quickened my pace.

When I reached her, she seemed to be laughing about something. "Not even I could do that." She grinned.

"Do what?" I said, puzzled.

"Make all the knight's go crazy. Couldn't you tell?" I turned my head around to find a knight looking at me and then quickly darting his stare somewhere else. I turned bright red and Ida picked up on it. I guess I wasn't used to so much male attention. "I really have a beautiful sister!" She chuckled.

We were interrupted when we noticed people were now approaching the jousting field. The tournament was about to begin. My mother led the way and my sister and I followed her. When we reached the field, many large tents circled the area. Knights walked in and out of them, heavily protected by shiny armour and their enormous shields.

Our seats were beside King Uther and Morgana. She greeted me and I sat next to her. There were hundreds of people seated to see the tournament and even more were arriving. Excitement and the sound of cheers started to fill the air as the knights were mounting their horses.

Soon enough, the jousting began. The first two knights were up; both of them on both ends of the field.

"That one," Morgana pointed to the knight on the left side of the field. "That's Gwaine. He's very good at jousting." I recognised him; it was the knight Ida had flirted with on the first night.

Once the first two knights had jousted and pretty much gotten hurt, another two knights stepped up. Morgana would make sure I knew everyone's names. Almost by the end of the tournament, I now knew the name of most of the knights: Percival, Leon, Lancelot, and Elyan.

Joust after joust, fall after fall, eventually the number of competitors decreased as one was knocked out each round. Eventually, it was the final round. Jasper made it to the semi-finals but was knocked out. All I cared about was that he wasn't seriously hurt.

It was Arthur's turn now. I observed the crowd and their cheers and claps became louder. Uther had a smile planted upon his face. He was up against a knight from a different kingdom. He was much bigger than the Prince.

"His opponent is huge." I mentioned. Morgana simply nodded in agreement.

And off they went; it seemed like it was all in slow motion. As they approached closer to one another, Arthur was hit by his opponent. Some let out gasps, others clapped. Uther shot out of his seat. However, Arthur hadn't fallen off his horse yet. He straightened himself up and positioned his joust.

Once again, they closed in on each other but this time, Arthur was completely thrown off from his horse. His opponent's joust hit him hard right in his chest. Most of the crowd gasped in shock. Arthur was lying on the floor, clenching his chest in pain.

Uther panicked and ordered the knights to check on Arthur, who was still lying on the floor. Merlin hurried behind them. Morgana got up from her seat and I followed her, not really knowing what we were going to do.

As people hurried to aid Arthur, his opponent was content with himself. Spectators roared in happiness over their new champion.

Morgana and I stopped in our tracks when the knights carrying Arthur into a large tent rushed past us. Morgana turned to look at me and I could sense her worry. Uther hurried past us and entered the tent. I decided to enter the tent as well.

I walked through the slit opening of the tent to find Arthur sprawled on the floor. He seemed to be falling in and out of consciousness.

"Merlin, get some water. And some bandages. Hurry." Gaius ordered. Merlin nudged past us.

"Gaius, will he be alright?" Uther asked, clearly very concerned about Arthur's state.

Gaius removed his chest plate and ripped his shirt. He then pointed to the large wound discharging blood. "Well, there's a puncture wound on his chest. And his arm is bruised. We need to keep him awake, sire."

"Do everything you can, Gaius."

Gaius started to apply a thick looking ointment. The wound was so bad that Morgana squirmed in disgust. My eyes remained glued onto his bleeding chest.

"Morgana and Eleanor, I think it is better for you both not to be present at the moment. " Uther said, clearly looking disturbed too by the amount of blood.

"I think we should do as Uther says." I held onto Morgana's arms and I led her out of the tent. At the same time, Merlin entered with a handful of bandages, bottled stuff and some water.

"Oh my lord, what if he dies?" Morgana's face fell into her hands.

"Don't say such a thing, Morgana. Gaius is a physician; he knows what he's doing. Arthur will be fine. " I said, trying to comfort her. However, not even I could convince myself of that.

0000

It was pitch-dark already and neither I nor Morgana knew about Arthur's health and whether or not he was okay. After leaving the tent, we decided it was best if we got out of the way and stayed in the castle until we received any information. Morgana resorted to wait until tomorrow and head to her chamber, as she was already sleepy. I on the other hand didn't feel the need to sleep at all.

It felt like hours had gone by as I stood on the balcony, watching over Camelot's landscape while the cold wind rustled my hair. I tried lying on my bed but my eyes weren't planning on closing anytime soon. My headaches started to kick in and I knew there was no chance I was going to doze off well tonight.

"_Gaius, you better have something for me to take."_ I thought. I decided to head to his chamber, not even knowing if he was going to be awake or not.

I knocked gently on the wooden door and opened it slightly. The door made a rather squeaky sound as it opened. I squeezed my head through the small gap and peered in to check if there were any signs of life. "Hello? Gaius?" I whispered. All the candles in the room were out.

I cautiously tipped-toe into the chamber, making sure I didn't make any sudden movements. The moonlight that entered through the window didn't illuminate much of the room. Everywhere I looked, there were books piled on top of each other. I noticed the small bed which I had once occupied had a bump underneath the covers, a sign that somebody was there. I couldn't tell who it was but I assumed it to be Merlin.

"_I think Gaius and Merlin are both asleep,"_ I thought_. "No sleep for you, El."_ My head was still pounding. There was no use; I had to come back the next morning. I turned around and stealthily tip-toed back to the door, only to be spotted.

"Eleanor, came to visit me?"

I immediately recognised the voice.

"Arthur?" I said in shock. "I came looking for Gaius." I walked over closer to him.

"Great to know you'd come visit me when I'm hurt." He laughed wheezily and then ended up coughing quite violently.

"Are you alright?" Automatically, I inched closer to the bed and crouched beside him.

"Pass me the water quickly," He almost struggled to say those words. I lifted the cup that sat on the nightstand and passed it to him but he was having difficulties manoeuvring it towards his mouth. I held the cup with his hand still cupped around it too and poured the water into his dry mouth. He swallowed the liquid and he looked relieved. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I smiled quickly.

"My father must be disappointed."

"About what?"

He let out a long sigh before responding. "I lost the jousting competition. Everybody will think I'm a coward."

There was a moment of silence before I replied. "You made it to the final. He's your father, he won't be disappointed."

"Then you don't know my father well enough." He shifted his head to face the wall and gazed at it.

"You cannot win all the time, Arthur."

"But with a father like Uther, I have no choice other than to win." Silence between us once again.

"How are you feeling? Is your wound better?" I asked him, trying to divert the topic of the conversation. He turned his head again to face me.

"Other than feeling weak, sweating like a monkey and my wound still bleeding a little, I'm fine I guess." He smiled.

I giggled. "Maybe it's better if I leave you. It's already late." I was lifting myself up from the cold floor when he suddenly grasps my wrist.

"Stay." He muttered. Obediently, I lowered myself back to my position. We were now looking eye to eye. I was looking into his blue eyes while he gazed into my sterling grey eyes. We didn't speak. We held the gaze until I nervously looked down at my legs. I didn't understand why he wanted me there.

"Arthur, I really should get going. I hope you get better."

"If you must. Goodnight, Eleanor." He smiled.

"Arthur, my wrist." He was still locking onto my wrist.

"Oh yes, sorry," He let go. "Goodnight."

I slowly left the room. As soon as I closed the door behind me, I hurried back to my chamber.

"_What was that?" _I asked myself as I closed the door to my chamber and then leaning against the door. I noticed my heart rate was starting to slow down. _"Prince Arthur, making me nervous? No."_

And that's what I tried convincing myself the whole time as I laid in my bed that night. He had no effect on me whatsoever. Or maybe I just didn't want to admit it. Or maybe I was just thinking too much.


	5. Drinks n' Jealousy

**A/N:** Hello, once again and Chapter 5 has finally arrived. I've noticed I've been getting quite a lot of hits on this story! I hope that means people are enjoying it. I don't want to be annoying but do R&R. Enough of me, here's the Chapter.

**P.S.** If you have any ideas that you would like to see be incorporated in my story, do tell me!

* * *

There was a soft knock on the door. I had just arrived from Gaius' chamber and I was desperate to try and get some sleep. I threw the bed covers to the side, got myself up and reached for the door. I gently opened it to find Merlin standing there.

"Merlin? What brings you to my chamber?" I asked the pale faced boy.

"You came to Gaius' chamber; I thought maybe you needed something, my lady."

"You saw me?" I asked. I was almost certain there was nobody else there other than Arthur.

"I heard your voice from my room. Is something wrong?" He lowered his eyebrows at me slightly.

"I was hoping Gaius had something for my headaches. I can't sleep at all. I've been lying in bed staring at the ceiling." For some reason, he didn't look convinced.

"I'm sure Gaius has something. I will wake him up for you, I'm sure he'll be willing to help, my lady."

"No, no, no. No need for that Merlin, but I appreciate it."

"If you say so," There was an abrupt pause. "Did you go visit Arthur?" He smiled.

"Oh, I wasn't visiting him, he just happened to be in Gaius' chamber," And it was true. There it was again, that unconvinced look of his. "Merlin, that's what happened." I told him sternly.

"I believe you, Eleanor," He smiled once more and I could tell he was trying to tease me. "I shall bother you no more. Goodnight."

0000

About a week or so had gone by since Arthur had that accident of his. He was now well, thanks to Gaius. I tried to ignore that strange encounter I had with him.

I was also aware that my time in Camelot was almost nearing to an end; father wasn't planning on staying too long. He had duties to be performed back in Darcia and everybody knows a kingdom can't function without their king and queen. I was definitely disappointed. Camelot really was magnificent and I didn't want to leave Morgana behind, who had now turned into a good friend of mine.

That's why Uther was planning a celebration for tonight, once again. The king really wanted to make sure my father would have an unforgettable time in his kingdom. A lot of people were going to show up, including Uther's closest friends and apparently even Camelot's knight, which enticed Ida to come along.

This time I put more effort in looking presentable, simply because mother wanted me and Ida to look it. I chose a beautiful blue dress that went along nicely with my sapphire encrusted necklace and I let my dirty blonde hair cascade down my chest and back.

There was a loud knock on the door and then the continuous squeak as it opened.

"Ready, El?" Ida asked me.

"One second," I placed all the loose strands of hair that covered my face behind my ear and placed a silver headpiece on my head. "Done."

I walked towards her and she locked her arm with mine. "Let's go then." I could see her eyes twinkle with joy.

Once we reached the doorway to the large hall, the celebration was already in full swing. The music was loud and smell of wine swept past us. The room was absolutely filled and Ida's eyes widened in excitement.

"There he is," She pointed at someone but I couldn't tell who. "Come on, El." Before I could even interject, she dragged me along with her as our arms were still intertwined. As we budged past people, we finally managed to reach a group of knights who were drinking away and laughing.

"Gwaine," She unattached her arm from mine and now smiled at the large knight. "How very nice to see you."

"Hello, Ida," He stepped closer to her, reached for her hand and kissed the back of it. Ida's face clearly lightened. "And hello, Eleanor." He kissed the back of my hand too. The other knights stopped drinking and were now gazing at both me and my sister.

"I don't think I've introduced you to the rest of the knights," Gwaine turned around to face the rest of the group. "Percival, Elyan and Leon." He pointed at each one as he spoke their names. One by one, they stepped forward and planted a kiss on our hands.

"With us, it's impossible not have a good time," Gwaine raised his wine filled chalice in the air and the knights cheered in response, lifting their cups in sync.

"I will get us some drinks, I'll be back." Ida told me and then wandered off.

"_Great, I'm now left alone with a bunch of almost drunken knights." _I thought to myself.

"So Eleanor, have you been enjoying your time in Camelot?" Gwaine asked me, sipping wine.

"Oh, yes, definitely."

"I bet you haven't seen such good looking knights before, have you?" They all chuckled loudly.

"And don't forget arrogant." I smiled at him. Too be quite honest, he wasn't too hard on the eye, and Percival wasn't either.

"She's quite the bold one." He raised his eyebrows at me.

"That's me alright." At that exact moment, Ida had finally returned with two chalices filled with wine and handed one to me.

"What are you all talking about?" Ida asked.

"I don't think the knights know how to act in front of beautiful women." I whispered loudly to Ida on purpose. Ida let out a laugh.

"Oh, is that so?" Gwaine laughed too. "I agree with the 'beautiful women' part."

0000

**-Arthur's POV-**

"_If another woman approaches me to simply flirt, I think I'm going to go nuts," _I thought to myself. _"I know I'm attractive but gosh, enough is enough."_

I was sat at father's table watching the movement of the people and listening to the music that played, even though the loud talking masked the sound. I had attended so many celebrations that in the end, it became boring. I played around with the wine in my chalice, whirling the cup and watching the wine splash around. I guess I still wasn't feeling one hundred percent after the accident.

Eventually I got bored of that too and stuck to surveying the room. My eyes then came across the knights who appeared to be ridiculously drunk and were now flexing their arm muscles. I examined closer to find Eleanor and Ida laughing and drinking a long with the men. I swear I felt my insides melt; Eleanor's dress, her hair, her eyes, her face... I gazed continuously and curiously watched her from afar. They all seemed to be having a lot of fun. I could tell Percival was flirting with her. I sighed.

"Hello, Arthur," I was interrupted from my thoughts to find a woman smiling at me. "I hope you don't mind." She sat right beside me in the spare seat.

"Oh not at all, my lady," I said to her smiling, really wishing she would leave me. I gazed back at the group quickly to see Percival now whispering something in Eleanor's ear. My attention then returned to the woman sat next to me. "Drink?" I asked her, pouring wine into an empty cup. This was almost becoming routine for me.

"_Where's Merlin when you need him?"_

0000

**-Eleanor's POV-**

I could tell the knights were throwing themselves onto me and Ida; I had no idea why Gwaine was of interest to Ida, but then again, she would even flirt with a door if necessary.

"Ida, let's get out of here." I whispered into Ida's ear, hoping she would agree.

"Not yet," She whispered back. I gave her a pinch and she muttered 'ouch' under breath. "Gwaine, it was very nice to speak to you, but we'll be heading off." She smiled at the knight and we both wandered away from the men.

"Eleanor! What was that for?" Ida scowled at me.

"The knights were getting terribly drunk. What so interesting about Gwaine anyway?"

"He's good looking." She smiled.

As we walked around the room with our arms once again intertwined, Arthur caught my eye. Ida was blabbering on about something but I wasn't really paying attention. Arthur was talking away with the rather elegant woman sat beside him and every so often they would pour a drink for each other. Suddenly, he glances at me and we were now staring at each other from afar. _"Oh god, he caught me staring. What's he going to think?" _I thought to myself. I smiled at him and averted my look as quickly as I could. I didn't dare look at him for the rest of the night.

* * *

**A/N:** I have a question: Do you think Arthur and the Knights were OOC? I really would like to know. And don't worry, there will be more Arthur/Eleanor action, I promise! By the way, Chapter 6 should be arriving in 2-4 days! *Yay!* :D


	6. Threats

**A/N: **Chapter 6 is finally up. :)

* * *

I was already pretty tired but the celebration was still going on. Through the towering windows, you could see the moon positioned in the centre of the black sky and I could tell it was very late.

I knew I had to head straight to my chamber before I would pass out from exhaustion. "Ida, I'm going to head to my room. I think you should too." I told her, nudging my elbow into her. However, I knew that no matter what I said, she would completely ignore me. And that's what she did. There was no stopping her once she arrived at a party so I simply let her be.

I exited the hall as quickly as I could and breathed a sigh of relief as I entered the corridors of the castle, away from all the loud commotion. I most certainly did not want those annoying headaches of mine to ruin the night.

I finally reached the last corridor I needed to take to reach my chamber. I took the last corner and to my surprise, found Arthur stood a metre away from me, about to enter his chamber. I had not even noticed that his chamber was not at all far from mine. Before he could enter his room, he acknowledged my presence and he too looked surprised to see me.

"Eleanor?" The Prince said, looking rather bemused. "Did you follow me?" A grin crept upon his face. He now stepped closer towards me.

I raised an eyebrow at him, not really knowing why he would think such a thing. "Oh don't flatter yourself, Arthur," I crossed my arms. "I am really tired and the celebration was getting quite boring."

"I agree with you on that. I've attended at least one hundred."

"You must love being a prince." I joked.

He gave out a small laugh. "Sometimes," He was now leaning his shoulder against the wall. "When are you leaving for Darcia?" He tilted his head slightly.

"Soon, but I'm not sure exactly when," He simply nodded his head at me. "Well I really must get some sleep. Today's been a tiring day."

"Just a little longer won't hurt," He was winning me over. "I don't feel tired at all myself."

"Alright, Prince Arthur, I guess I must obey you considering this is your kingdom." I teased him slightly.

"So does that mean if I invited you to have breakfast with me tomorrow, you would attend, Princess Eleanor?" I had no idea what to reply and there was a short pause before I could even gather words to speak.

"And why should I attend?" I asked, trying to make myself not look too eager.

"I'd like to get to know you better. I don't think we've had any opportunities to speak properly."

I guess he was right. I couldn't simply refuse the offer.

"You've convinced me. But I'm only attending because I know that if I don't, you'll sob," I teased him again, placing my hand on his shoulder for a quick moment. He laughed. "Goodnight, Arthur."

"Goodnight, Eleanor."

I walked into my chamber and closed the door behind me. A few moments later, you could hear the latch from Arthurs's door drop.

I undressed myself and immediately clambered into my bed, hoping for some restful sleep.

0000

I woke up to the sound of light knocking. _"What is it with people knocking on the door so early in the morning?" _I asked myself as I dragged myself away from the bed I was sleeping comfortably in to open the door.

"Arthur ordered me to check if you were awake." Merlin told me. "Supposedly you are to eat with him this morning." He grinned. I had almost forgotten.

"Well tell him he's going to have to wait because I take a while to change." And with a nod, he wandered off.

As soon as I had dressed myself, I headed straight to Arthur's chamber. I knocked lightly on the door and almost immediately, the Prince opened it.

"Good morning, Eleanor. I thought you were not even going to show up. Sorry I woke you up so early," He closed the door and sat at his table. I sat opposite him. "Training today."

"It's fine, Arthur." I reassured him.

Various fruits, bread and a plateful of oats sat on the table. "Merlin!" He yelled at the boy who suddenly came rushing in through the door.

"Yes, sire?" He asked nervously, stood now with his arms behind his back.

Arthur pointed at the table but Merlin didn't seem to understand what the Prince was trying to tell him. "The rest of the food, Merlin."

The food on the table was already enough for me. I was never too hungry in the mornings. "This food is already enough; I won't be eating much." I told them both.

"Are you sure, Eleanor?" The Prince asked. Merlin seemed to look relieved, probably because he didn't have to go and prepare more food.

"Yes, I'm certain. Shall we eat then?" I clasped my hands together. Arthur shooed Merlin out of the room and the Prince was now tucking into his bowl of dry oats. I grabbed a small pear and started to bite into it.

"That's all you're eating?" The Prince asked, looking rather astonished.

"Don't worry about me," I bit once more into the pear. "You eat a lot, I presume."

"I must keep in shape," He smirked. He then stopped eating his oats and wiped the corners of his mouth with a cloth. "I'm curious; tell me more about Darcia." He was now leaning back against his chair.

"It's a beautiful kingdom but it is quite small. I've lived there all my life. All my childhood memories are there."

"My father speaks a lot about Darcia and your father, Alain. They get on very well." He mentioned.

"My father too speaks of Uther. Everybody in Camelot seems to praise the king."

He sighed. "Unfortunately, not everyone. Many sorcerers lurk in Camelot and all they wish is harm upon us all."

"I don't mean to contradict but I believe there are sorcerers who mean not to harm anyone."

"Sorcerers are evil, always have been," He clenched his fist slightly in anger. "My mother Ygraine was killed because of magic." He said harshly.

There was a short pause. "Oh I am so sorry, Arthur. It… must be very hard for you." I tried to sympathise with him.

"Do not apologise, Eleanor." He looked up at me once again after staring at the floor for quite some time.

"I understand what it must be like," I remembered my grandmother; her death affected the whole family, especially me. She was always looking after me when my mother was busy ruling the kingdom with my father. "My grandmother died in the hands of a sorcerer as well. I loved her very much. I never really found out what happened to her." I looked down at my hands and started to fiddle with my fingers.

"I am very sorry to hear that, Eleanor. That is why when I become King of Camelot, I shall do everything in my power to eliminate magic." He spoke sternly.

"I am sure you will be a great king." Merlin suddenly barged into the room rather abruptly, almost clumsily tripping over. I could tell by Arthur's facial expression that he was not pleased.

"What is it, Merlin?" The Prince rolled his eyes at him.

"I don't mean to interrupt but King Alain wants to speak with his daughter urgently."

"My father? Do you know why, Merlin?" He simply shrugged.

"Thank you for the breakfast, Arthur, but I really should get going." We shared a quick smile and I left his chamber with Merlin alongside me.

"This way, Eleanor." He was now directing me through the corridors.

"Merlin, is it something bad?" I started to feel a little worried considering that Merlin told me it was urgent.

"I'm afraid I don't know," We eventually stopped at a large door. "Right in here." He opened the doors to reveal Uther, my parents, my siblings and even Morgana sitting on a large table discussing something. Gaius was stood right behind Uther's chair. As soon as I began to approach them, their discussion ended and all eyes were on me now.

"Eleanor, please sit beside me." My mother said. Still confused as to what was the matter, I sat in the empty seat next to her. My father shared a worried glance with Uther before facing me again.

"A knight arrived today to inform me that there has been an intruder in Darcia." I widened my eyes in shock.

"What? Have they been caught? Was anybody hurt?" I interrogated.

"It seems that the intruder stole many goods and hurt two of the guards," My father paused. "When the knights searched the entire castle for the intruder, they found your chamber completely ransacked. No other room was in such a state. There was no sign of the intruder either."

My heart started to race. "What are you implying, father?"

"What I am implying is that this person is after you. I am almost certain, Eleanor," I felt the hairs on my back stand. "And there was a note..." My father handed the small scroll to me. Everybody at the table was now watching me closely as I unrolled the paper. I was almost indecisive as to whether or not I wanted to read it or not.

I unrolled the paper to find indecipherable words sloppily written in bluish ink. It was definitely written in some sort of old looking language.

I was completely baffled as to what I was looking at. "What does it say?" Father looked up at Gaius.

"If I am correct, it is a very ancient language," The small book Gaius was holding tightly to was now placed on the table. The old man turned to a specific page and I watched curiously. His bony finger landed on some text and he was reading under his breath. "This language has been out of use for centuries. It was spoken by the bearers of evil magic. But it is believed these people vanished from the Earth to one day return and cause chaos,

"After reading a few books written in this old language, I was able to translate the scroll. It says: 'I want her, or the Kingdom suffers'." He closed his book and was now observing me.

"What does this mean, father? What are you going to do?" I raised my voice.

"Eleanor, please stay calm. Uther and I think it is best if you stay in Camelot until this sorcerer is caught."

"Outrageous! I am now forbidden to step foot in my own kingdom?" I asked bitterly. Everybody at the table was now sharing looks with each other.

"I will not allow this sorcerer to take you!" My father slammed his hand on the table that everybody jumped slightly in their seats. The atmosphere was becoming tense and uncomfortable. He calmed himself down before speaking once again. "You should be grateful that Uther is willing to let you stay in Camelot."

"It is understandable why she may be agitated, Alain," Uther stood up from his seat and placed both hands on the table. The King now directed his gaze at me. "Eleanor, you are more than welcome to stay in Camelot. I believe what your father is doing is the most appropriate thing to do at the moment."

"What about father, mother, Ida and Jasper?"

My father sighed.

"Tomorrow we shall be heading back to Darcia. I must protect the kingdom."

"Do you know how long I will be staying in Camelot, father?"

"Until the sorcerer is caught, I don't want you anywhere near Darcia. I do not want you to get hurt."

My mother held my hands and squeezed them tightly. "We're doing this because we care, Eleanor."

"I understand."

0000

I was feeling mixed emotions; not only was I upset but I was angry. _"What does this sorcerer want from me? What if they know where I am?" _

The thought of being away from Darcia hurt me. Yes, I didn't want to leave Camelot so soon, but I didn't want to have to stay. I feared for my own safety and I feared for my family's safety. I didn't want to find out what kind of consequences Darcia was going to suffer. I thought of all the possible reasons as to why the sorcerer would want me: Had I done something terrible? Was this a way to intimidate my father? Or was this a sign powerful magic was returning? I pondered over and over, trying to figure it out.

"_Who was that cloaked woman you spoke to in your dreams?"_ I remembered the odd dream like it happened yesterday. Could it possibly have had something to do with her? Nothing made sense anymore.

I was desperate to see Morgana because I knew she would help me feel better. I headed straight to her chamber.

_Knock, knock_.

The door opened wide. "Eleanor, is everything alright?" She asked me. I walked into her room and found Gwen sewing a dress. As soon as the girl realised I was in the room, she immediately got up, ready to leave.

"No, Gwen. You can stay, it is fine," I smiled at the girl and she bowed. She sat back down and got back to work. I turned my gaze back to Morgana. "I really just needed to see somebody. I'm upset. I'm scared for my life." Morgana then wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly. In response, I hugged her tightly as well.

After a few brief moments, she then untangled herself from me. "Is it because of what your father said today?" I nodded at her. "Eleanor, everything is going to be fine. I can assure you of that."

"Nobody can be sure, Morgana," I sighed. "What if tomorrow will be the last time I see my own family?"

"Don't say such a thing," She grabbed my hands and held them. "You need to take your mind off things. This negativity isn't going to help. I think maybe a walk around the castle may help." She smiled at me. I nodded in agreement and we left her chamber.

We walked through the corridors and into the courtyard, chatting away. Morgana was constantly comforting me and I definitely felt better talking to her. Maybe staying in Camelot wasn't as bad as I thought.

0000

"If Uther caught you eavesdropping, you would have gotten a telling off." Gaius told Merlin as he was filling up a bucket of water in the courtyard.

"At least he didn't catch me," He smirked at the old man. The servant boy eventually wiped the smile off his face as Gaius glared at him with seriousness. "Do you know who the sorcerer could be, Gaius?"

"I'm afraid I don't," He paused and lost himself in his thoughts. "I fear Dark Magic may be taking over."

'Dark Magic' were words that Merlin hated to hear. "Why would they be after Eleanor?" Gaius simply shrugged.

"Merlin, be careful, especially in these commencing weeks. Everybody, especially Uther, will be looking out for signs of magic. And make sure you protect Eleanor."

"I know, Gaius," One bucket of water was finally filled, another few to go. Gaius passed him another bucket to fill up. Merlin sighed and decided to facilitate things. "_Ibhakede anelisa enha_." The boy muttered under his breath. In an instant, water splashed into all the buckets.

"Merlin," Gaius said sternly. He looked around for anybody who may have witnessed what just happened. "You have to be more careful than that."

"I can't help it Gaius. And the horses are thirsty; I better get these buckets to the stables before Arthur starts to moan." The boy smirked. The old man couldn't help but smirk along with him.

* * *

**A/N: **What do you think? Let me know and leave me a review! Sorry if my chapters are short, I will try to lengthen them (When I type up the chapters on Microsoft Word, it looks like I've written so much but I haven't really).

Thanks to everyone who is giving me a chance and are actually reading this story, big *heart* for you guys. Also, thanks to **bella cullen the original **for being the first to add my story on their favourites. Huge, enormous *heart* to you! Keep your eyes peeled for Chapter 7. :)


	7. The Mark of Nimueh

**A/N:** Hey guys! I'm back once again and I hope you're enjoying the story as much as I am. This story keeps getting more hits every week, so thank you to those who are reading and following the story.

I would also like to thank **JohnCenaRkoFanForever** for helping me develop the storyline. Thank you so much for your ongoing support and reviews. Big heart for you!

A quick and important note for anybody who might be unaware: If I write in the third person, an omniscient narrator is telling the story. If I write in the first person, it is Eleanor speaking. If any other character like Arthur or Merlin speaks in the first person, I will mention that it is their point of view (POV). I hope this won't cause any confusion.

* * *

_In a cave, somewhere in the midst of a forest…_

The young sorceress sculpted an odd looking creature from water and clay. Next, she enclosed it in an egg, her unmistakable mark etched onto the hard shell. Standing before the Scrying Fount, she held the egg in her hand and hovered it above the water.

"_Diegol cnytte gewitte me yst, aliese hine, Camelot he cymb." _She chanted under her breath as the mysterious egg began to glow a light orange. Once her spell had been cast, she deposited it into the basin. She observed the water carefully as images appeared on the surface.

From the Fount, she witnessed the egg magically direct itself through an underwater route and then into a river. At last, it surfaced inside a vault and the creature began to hatch. Her eyes gleamed with excitement as she grappled tightly the edges of the basin. All she could do was grin evilly and wait for the results she wanted.

"Camelot shall pay the price."

0000

"Eleanor, I promise everything will be fine," My mother squeezed me tightly as she gently run her hand through my hair. "Look after yourself, alright?" I nodded. A tear began to roll down my cheek but she wiped them away from my face. "Oh, Eleanor… Don't cry." She hugged me once more but this time, the embrace was even tighter.

She let go of me and planted the softest kiss on my forehead. My father walked towards me and hugged me too.

"Goodbye, Eleanor." My father whispered in my ear. He pecked me on my forehead.

"I didn't think you were going to miss us this much," Ida stepped forward, sneering. I was definitely going to miss Ida's jokes and silly antics. "Goodbye, El."

"Darcia won't be the same without you." Jasper said, placing his hands on my shoulders.

"You bet it won't," He laughed. "Goodbye, Jasper."

I watched as they all mounted their horses one by one. My heart began to ache. Father turned back to face the castle one last time. "Goodbye, Uther." He shouted. Uther waved at his friend as the horses began to trot away. My father and I shared one last glance before turning his head away. Slowly, their silhouettes began to shrink as their horses trotted into the distance. Eventually, they disappeared completely from sight. Even after everybody had dissipated into the castle, I hadn't moved away from the spot I was standing on. I stood there in thought.

A figure then began to emerge in the distance. I squinted, trying to make out who was approaching but all I could tell was that they were on a horse. A little part of me ignited with hope that maybe it was father coming back for me. But as the person neared the castle entrance, I was able to distinguish the face and I soon fell back to reality. _"Oh, it's just Merlin." _I groaned inwardly.

He scrambled himself off the horse and removed heavy looking sacks from the horses back. He unsteadily approached me as he carried the sacks in his arms that completely obstructed his face. He almost toppled over. The sacks were then thrown to the floor, leaving Merlin trying to catch his breath. "Eleanor, up so early?" He asked.

"I was bidding farewell to my family," He nodded. He sat himself next to me on the castle steps, still breathing heavily. "You've been hard at work, I see." I pointed at the bags lying on the floor.

"Gaius usually sends me to collect herbs, plants, rocks, all sorts of things. All for his 'experiments'," He air quoted. "_And_, I still have a bunch of chores the prat wants me to finish." He sighed, lifting himself up and grabbing the sacks. I chuckled slightly at the nickname Merlin gave Arthur. As he chucked two of the sacks onto his shoulder, he let out a groan. I knew the bags were heavy and watching Merlin tire himself out made me feel a little sorry for him.

"Do you need any help?" I asked him.

"No thanks, I can manage. And anyway, Arthur would shout at me if I let you help me. He'd probably call me lazy." He smirked. He waved goodbye as he carried the bags into the castle to deliver his findings to Gaius.

I was now eager to get my mind off things, just like Morgana had advised me. It was still early in the morning and I wanted to head to Morgana's chamber. I didn't care if she was asleep or not. Once I had reached her chambers, I opened the door very slowly and popped my head into the gap. I examined the room and found Morgana was fast asleep, tuck into bed, just like I had predicted. I decided to sit on the chair that was facing the window and wait until she woke up from her sleep.

Only a few minutes had passed and I heard the bed covers begin to shuffle. I looked over and she was moving quite a lot. Beads of sweat trickled down her temple and she looked terrified, even though she was still sleeping.

"No…Stop! Eleanor, no. Don't… No!" The woman yelled at the top of her lungs, digging her nails into the mattress. Her skin was turning pale and I started to feel very unsettled.

"Morgana, wake up!" I shook her in hopes that she'd hear me and awaken from her bad dream. Immediately, her eyelids shot open and she looked completely shocked to see me. She panted as she tried catching her breath. "Is everything alright? What happened?" She sat herself up and inspected the room with her eyes, as if there was somebody or something there, hiding.

"I… had a terrible dream, Eleanor." I hugged her and I sensed she was extremely worried.

"What was it? You said my name too, was it bad?" I questioned her.

"It was horrible. I don't even want to begin explaining," She was beginning to calm herself down. "Thank goodness you were here to wake me up."

"What are friends for, right?" I smiled warmly.

"Um, Eleanor, can I tell you something?" She asked nervously. I nodded at her. "Well… A week before you arrived at Camelot, I had… quite a strange dream."

"What was so strange about it?"

"I dreamt of people arriving at Camelot, and well… I was almost certain the first time I saw you, I recognized you from somewhere," I was now confused. "That's when I remembered… I had seen you in my dream."

I must admit, I was a little creeped out. "I'm pretty sure that's just a strange and odd coincidence. Trust me; I've had strange dreams myself." I tried to reassure her.

"Yes but that's when all this dreaming started. Almost every night since then, I've had terrifying dreams and I'm afraid they'll come true." Her eyes began to fill with water.

"Morgana, why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"I don't know. I was fearful, I guess," A tear rolled down her face. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise," I hugged her again, trying to comfort her. "I think we should see Gaius, I'm sure he can help you." She agreed and quickly put something over her nightdress. We exited her room and headed straight to Gaius' chamber.

We didn't even bother to knock so I just yanked the door open but it looked like Gaius' was already busy treating a patient. Morgana and I stepped into the room and encountered a man so pale and ill looking sleeping upon the bed. I gave out a gasp in shock by the man's state. Merlin and Gaius surrounded the man; Gaius opened his eyelids and both eyes were as white as snow.

"What on Earth has happened to this man?" Morgana asked Gaius. He checked for pulse and that's when he looked up at Merlin and shook his head in disappointment. Both men turned to look at us.

"This man is dead." The old man said grimly. Morgana and I covered our mouths in shock.

"Do you know why, Gaius?" I asked him.

"An unknown pathogen," He replied. Merlin grabbed a white cloth and covered the lifeless corpse. "I'm afraid I couldn't do anything to help him. Once the townspeople had found him, he had already passed." He sighed.

Suddenly, Arthur barged into the room as well, looking quite concerned about something. Two of Camelot's knights accompanied him.

"Gaius, you must speak urgently with my father," He glances quickly at everyone in the room. "One of the royal court servants has died." Gaius and Merlin shared a very worried look.

"Yes, sire." The old man lifted himself up from his chair and everyone scurried behind him like sheep, including Morgana and I. I was now curious as to what was going on and my gut instinct told me that it was not good at all. Once we had reached the council chambers, Arthur nodded at the knights and they immediately opened the doors wide to uncover Uther sitting at his throne. Once we all entered, he stood up immediately.

"Gaius, has my son told you?" The king asked nervously.

"Yes. And I'm afraid this morning another man too died from an unidentifiable disease."

The king walked in a circle for a brief moment with his hand on his forehead, deep in thought. "Gaius, you must find out what this disease is." Gaius was beginning to look pressured for answers.

"The only likely cause is sorcery, sire." As soon as Gaius mentioned the forbidden word 'sorcery', the King's eyes widened.

"Arthur, conduct searches of every house in town," He ordered. "And Merlin, I am assigning you to Gaius until this illness is explained," Merlin and Gaius bowed before the king before leaving the council chambers. "You ladies don't leave the castle unless I say so." We nodded in agreement although I completely disapproved of his decision.

0000

Gaius flicked through almost every book there was to try and figure out exactly what disease was beginning to spread in Camelot. However, his findings were completely useless. Merlin helped by reading every book he could but he too couldn't find any reasonable answer. That's when Merlin remembered the Book of Magic that Gaius had given to him could be of use.

The book was secretly positioned behind several other books on the shelf to protect it from being detected. Merlin climbed on top of a chair and reached out for it. Once he had it in his possession he flicked through the large pages to try and find anything that could cure the plague.

"I don't understand why anybody would use magic to harm others." Merlin said to the physician.

"The power of magic can corrupt those who use it but magic itself, being a tool, is neither good or evil."

Their investigations were soon interrupted by Arthur and his guards who arrived to search their quarters. Merlin immediately closed the book shut and placed it behind his body, in hopes Arthur wouldn't suspect of anything, especially because Uther was on the lookout for magic. Arthur pointed at every room and ordered the knights to search vigorously.

A couple of minutes had passed and it seemed like the knights had come across nothing. The Prince sighed in defeat and headed to the next chamber to continue with the extensive search. Once they had all left, Merlin and Gaius could finally breathe a sigh of relief; the Book of Magic was still safe and undiscovered.

"Gaius, I have to use my magic to help the victims." Merlin said frustratingly.

"No, Merlin. We must discern the source of the plague," The physician placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Your time to be a great sorcerer will come."

Once again, they were interrupted but this time a worried Gwen stumbled into the room, on the verge of bursting into tears. Once again, Merlin quickly hid the book behind him.

"My father," Gwen struggled to speak. "He's contracted the plague," She rushed towards Gaius and looked deep into his eyes. "Please, Gaius, you have to help him!" She tugged on his arm.

"I'm afraid there is no cure," He said grimly. "I'm so sorry, Gwen."

There was a short pause until Gwen broke down into tears and ran out of the chamber, leaving Merlin slightly heartbroken. And with that, Merlin continued to flip through the pages of the Book of Magic, analysing every word and every image, this time even more desperate to find a spell to cure the plague. After putting the puzzle pieces together, that was when Merlin came up with a possible cause.

"This plague isn't spread through physical contact, Gaius," He told the man. Gaius looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "A royal courtier would never have been near the lower town, where the man we found was dead."

Gaius placed his hand on his chin and scratched it for a moment but he was still confused as to what Merlin was trying explain. "What are you trying to say, Merlin?"

"The only similarity between the victims is the water they drank." Gaius' eyes widened.

"Maybe you're right, Merlin."

"I have to do something about Gwen's father. I can't let him die. And I think Uther should find out about the water supply being poisoned."

0000

I woke up, interrupted by footsteps walking back and forth through the corridors and people talking. I was immediately put into a bad mood because it was early in the morning and I wanted to sleep.

After failed attempts to keep my eyes shut, I decided to get out of bed and see what all the commotion outside was all about. I put something over my nightdress and hurried out of my chamber. As soon as I entered the corridors, I saw a panicky Gwen being held by two guards, crying her eyes out and trying hard to escape their grasp. Arthur walked alongside them with a strange object in his hand. I rushed quickly to catch up with them.

"Arthur, what is happening?" I asked him worriedly. Gwen was crying even louder.

"I'm innocent, I swear!" The girl screamed. At that point, Merlin had also heard the commotion and was following the guards as well. "Merlin, help me!"

"You will see." Arthur didn't even bother to turn to look at me. The guards stopped in front of the council chambers and opened the doors wide, revealing Uther and many of his advisors.

"Father, this poultice was found under Tom's pillow, Gwen's father. It explains his quick recovery." He handed the glowing poultice to Uther and his face immediately flushes with anger. It was hard to believe that Gwen was involved with witchcraft; it didn't make sense.

The king steps closer to Gwen, who was now crouching on the floor with the guards holding her put.

"I want you to lift this curse." He said sternly.

"I can't, sire," She snuffled, with tears still rolling down her cheeks. "I don't have magic."

"You are lying," Uther raised his voice and he was becoming angrier and angrier. "Seize her. Tomorrow she shall be sentenced to death." He ordered and the knights dragged her out of the council chambers obediently.

"Please, I'm innocent!" It was the last thing I heard her yell until the she was far for any of her pleads to be heard.

Everybody in the room except Uther was grief-stricken by what had just happened. I was certain that Gwen was innocent and I wasn't going to let such injustice happen without anybody intervening.

"Uther, she was only trying to heal her father. I don't see evil in this girl." I told him.

"She wouldn't do a thing like this to Camelot." Arthur was now also trying to persuade his father to rethink his decision about putting Gwen to death. However, I knew deep down that it wasn't going to be an easy task. As soon as Uther heard the word 'magic', he would refuse to hear what anybody else had to say.

"I have suffered because of Magic and I am not allowing any sorcery in my kingdom." He yelled harshly.

"I was the one who used magic. I cured her father." Everybody in the room turned to face Merlin, who began to turn bright red as everybody glared at him.

"What?" Arthur begins to laugh slightly at Merlin's confession. "Merlin, a sorcerer? Father, you can't seriously believe him."

"This is a serious admission." The king stared at Merlin.

"He's… In love. With Gwen." I blurted out rather abruptly.

"Yes, he has a huge crush on her, haven't you Merlin?" Arthur stepped closer to Merlin and placed his arm around his neck, jokingly.

"What, no I don't!"

"Ah, denial. The first steps to falling in love." I told the king while cheekily smiling at Merlin. A few of the advisors began to giggle and mutter something to each other.

"Is this true?" The king stepped forward and began to approach Merlin. He grinned at the boy.

"I –"

Merlin was cut off when the King spoke. "You are dismissed without punishment."

0000

"Merlin, how could you have been so foolish?" Gaius scowled at the boy who was disappointed at his attempt to prevent Gwen's death.

"I can't let Gwen die because of me." He scowled back.

They walked through the castle's vault until they reached a small water reservoir. Merlin removed the small bottle he had in his satchel and dunked it into the water.

"We must test this and see what's causing this disease." Merlin nodded.

As soon as they had turned their backs away from the reservoir, a huge brown and scaly creature rose from the depths of the water and roared so loud that it echoed in the caves. Both men jolt in fear but the creature quickly immerses itself back into the water.

"What the hell was that?" Merlin questioned quite loudly. Instead of Gaius giving him an answer, he grabbed the boy by the arm and rushed out of the vault, heading straight to his chamber.

As soon as they arrived at Gaius' chamber, the old man grasped the Book of Magic and flipped through the pages until he stopped at one. "Here," He pointed at an image that very clearly resembled that of the creature they had just encountered. "Says here that it's made of water and earth. It's called an Afanc."

"A what?" The young warlock said, baffled.

"An Afanc," Gaius repeated. He read onwards, following each line with his finger. "It can only be destroyed with the opposite elements; air and fire."

Their investigation were interrupted once again, and this time, Morgana and Eleanor barged into the room.

0000

Morgana and I entered Gaius' chamber desperate for their help, knowing Gwen's execution was nearing.

"They're bringing forward the execution. Please, tell me what I have to do to help." Morgana begged.

"We need Arthur." Merlin said.

"Arthur?" I questioned.

"There's a monster in the water supply, an Afanc, that's what's causing the plague."

"We need to tell Uther!" Morgana panicked.

"An Afanc is controlled by magic; Uther would blame Gwen for conjuring it." Gaius intervened.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

Merlin thought for a second. "We need to destroy it and then the plague will stop… Uther may see sense."

"And that's why you need Arthur." I was now beginning to understand.

"He's our best chance," Morgana and I nodded in agreement. "But he won't want to disobey the king." Merlin said. I shared a glance with Morgana.

"Leave that to me." Morgana said and I followed her as she left the chamber.

We hurriedly ran through the corridor, knowing that we couldn't waste any more time. Morgana stopped at the Prince's chamber and opened the door without knocking. We entered and encountered the Prince, who looked surprised to see us.

"Everything alright?" We then looked down at the table. There was food scattered everywhere and his chamber was a mess. "Sorry about that, Merlin's not been in today."

"Poor Merlin," Morgana said. "He's willing to sacrifice his life to save Gwen's," I looked at her and I was beginning to understand what she was doing; trying to get Arthur on our side. "I certainly can't imagine a man loving me so much."

"I certainly can't either." Arthur joked, disgust painted on his face. I couldn't help but smile but returned back to being serious.

"It's because you're not like Merlin," Morgana smiled at him. "He's a lover."

"Yeah, maybe that's because I haven't found the right person to love."

"Sadly, the age of gallantry is dead. You look around and all you see is small men not big enough to fill their armour," She stared at him with beady eyes. "There's not one of them who are willing to stand up for what is right."

He sighed. "What do you want me to do?" At last, he had given in.

Morgana quickly explained everything and Merlin's plans to kill the creature which infiltrated Camelot's water supply. As soon as Arthur had heard everything, he grabbed the first sword in his sight and we rushed down to the courtyard where Merlin could be found.

We opened the vault doors and lit wooden torches before we entered deeper into the cave. We walked down the almost never ending steps until we reached the bottom. I automatically neared myself to Morgana, feeling uncomfortable knowing that there was a monster lurking somewhere. A distant hiss could be heard and she let out a gasp. We immediately stopped in our tracks.

Arthur then turned to face me. I could tell by his facial expression that he was scared too. "You should stay here."

"I'm coming with you." I said nervously.

"No." He spoke sternly.

"Scared a girl will show you up?" I said harshly.

"My father would slum us both in chains if you or Morgana are endangered."

"Good thing he doesn't know about it." I stepped closer to him. Morgana didn't move an inch. Arthur then grabbed me by the arm which caused me to yank back.

"Eleanor, I'm telling you, turn back. You can get seriously hurt." He looked deeply into my eyes.

"So could you, so get out of my way." I shot a quick smile and he let go of my arm. I confidently walked ahead of them all and in response, they began to follow my lead.

"So how do we find it?" Morgana questioned nervously. She was shaking in fear.

"Let's hope it doesn't find us first." Merlin replied.

"Stop." Arthur ordered. We all turned to glance at what he was looking at.

"What?" I asked.

"It was just a shadow," Morgana and I breathed a sigh of relief and we continued to journey deeper and deeper into the cave. Eventually, we reached a corner that lead to many different paths. "Spread out." Morgana and Merlin nodded in agreement and went their own ways but I was not so keen on the idea.

"I'm staying right here." I told the Prince. Although I expected him to say no, he nodded. Like a little girl, I stood behind him at all times, seeking protection. Suddenly, I heard a roar. I turned around to find myself face to face with the ugly, brown creature and yelped.

"Arthur!" I screamed, automatically grabbing onto his arms. The monster quickly vanishes from sight before he could see it. Footsteps were coming from the corridors; it seemed Merlin and Morgana had heard my yell and returned.

"What happened? Are you both alright?" Morgana asked, clearly frightened.

"Yeah." The Prince replied.

"Did you see it?" Merlin asked, moving his torch from side to side.

"Yes." I answered.

"What did it look like?"

"It was quick." We were all swiveling round, making sure the creature wasn't hiding behind any corner.

"It's there!" I yelled, pointing at the revolting creature. I caught sight of it as it started to near us once again. Morgana screamed. But we only had a chance to glimpse at it for a second because moments later, it vanished into thin air.

"Where is it?" The Prince asked, worried and spinning round constantly.

"I think it's gone this way!" Merlin yelled and pointed at one of the corridors. The creatures roar could be heard. Arthur led the way and we trailed behind him. Once we reached the end of the corridor, we all stopped and at last, it had been cornered. I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing considering the circumstances. The creature slowly uncovered itself from the shadows and we all watched in awe. The Prince took slow but steady steps towards it. All Morgana and I could do was watch fearfully the events that were going to unravel.

The creature lunged at Arthur but he quickly managed to get out of the way. He pointed his sword at it but it seemed merely intimidated by his taunts. It roared and Morgana got so frightened, she backed away. The creature began to roar even more fiercely and it stood on its feet. It prepared to lunge itself at Arthur. I couldn't stand the thought of possibly witnessing Arthur's death. For some reason, I joined his side and began to sway my torch at the monster.

"Eleanor! What are you doing?"

"What do you think?" I replied harshly.

The monster yelled even louder than he had before and got on its hind legs once again. Arthur pushed me behind him and covered me.

"Arthur, use the torch!" Merlin yelled. Automatically, he swayed his torch at it and we both covered our faces, not knowing what the creature was going to do next.

And then all of a sudden, an awful loud_ swoosh_ filled the entire cave. It was so loud, it was almost deafening. Arthur and I removed our arms from our faces and stood before the dead creature. _"How did that happen?"_ I thought to myself, confused.

"Are you alright?" Arthur turned around to face me.

"Yes." I let go of his arm, unaware I was grasping so tightly onto him. We all looked at each other, relieved. At last, the Afanc had been exterminated.

0000

"Good news, sire," Gaius interrupted Uther's meeting with his advisers. "Those who are sick are recovering." He smiled.

"Good," Uther said joyfully. "Strange, I've never heard of an Afanc before." Uther sipped some wine from his chalice.

"It's conjured from clay by powerful magic," The physician looked down at the object he had held wrapped in a cloth. "The type that can only be invoked by an ancient sorcerer, one who has the power to mirror the spirit of life."

Uther became clearly unsettled and widened his eyes at the sound of the word 'ancient sorcerer'.

"I found this at the water source," Gaius unwrapped the cloth to reveal half the shell of an egg. "It bears the mark of Nimueh." He showed the unmistakable mark to the king.

"No…" The king backed away slowly. "Will I never be rid of her?"

"Sire…"

"Leave me!" Uther orders. Gaius and his advisers bow before him and leave the council chambers.

_Elsewhere, the knights unchain a happy Gwen…_

"Thank you!" Gwen said.

"Don't thank me, it was all Merlin." Morgana put her hands on Merlin's shoulder.

"Really?"

"He's the real hero here." Morgana grinned.

"Oh… I didn't do anything." He chuckled.

"I am so grateful," Gwen's father stepped forward and gave Merlin a long handshake. "Come on, Gwen." He grabs onto her arm and the dart off, leaving Morgana and Merlin alone.

"Your secret's safe with me." Morgana winked at the warlock.

"My secret?" He repeated.

"Merlin, don't pretend. I know what you did."

"You did?" Merlin asked, even more puzzled.

"I saw it with my own eyes."

"You _did_?"

"I can understand why you wouldn't want to tell anybody."

"Well, obviously," Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. "You have no idea how hard it is to keep this hidden."

"I think Gwen's a very lucky woman." She winked at him one last time.

"Gwen?" He asked bemused.

"It's our secret." She smiled and then wandered off, leaving Merlin shattered thinking that Morgana had found out his possession for magic.

0000

Finally, some good news; the townspeople's health was improving and the disease had been completely eradicated. And I was thankful I lived another day, if it wasn't for Arthur back in the vault, although I didn't want to admit it. I wanted to express my gratitude and decided to go search for him.

Once I spotted him in the courtyard talking to one of Uther's advisers, I rushed towards him. "Arthur." I smiled. The adviser immediately bowed and walked away.

"Eleanor," He smiled as well. "Is something wrong?"

"I wanted to thank you for what you did back at the vault," I placed my hand on his arm briefly. "You know… For protecting me." I looked down at the floor for a quick moment, slightly embarrassed.

"There is no need to thank me, Eleanor." He smiled warmly. I smiled back.

I was going to turn back but he called me before I could walk away. "Wait," I turned around and stepped closer towards him. I stared into his blue eyes. "Um… do you like the idea of possibly horse-riding tomorrow… with me? I mean, you don't have to but –"

I giggled at his nervousness. "Of course, Arthur. I'd love that." I felt my cheeks turning bright red. And then I did the most unbelievable thing ever; I pecked his cheek and hurried away from him, shocked at myself. As I walked away, I curiously looked back and Arthur was still watching me. I turned away from him and walked onwards. I smiled stupidly for the rest of that night.

0000

The young sorceress flared with anger. She had witnessed everything, including Merlin's spell to protect Arthur from the beast. Her plans to kill The Prince and Camelot's inhabitants had been shattered. Angrily, she slammed her hand on the surface of the water, throwing droplets everywhere.

"I will get revenge, Merlin!"

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**A/N:** Nice, long chapter for you guys! I wanted to start with the episodes.

I bet you're all begging for more Artheanor action (I made that up right now: Arthur+Eleanor), well trust me; the next chapter is going to be interesting, so keep your eyes peeled. :) Don't forget to review. School is starting very soon for me and that means I'll be studying a lot to prepare for exams. So if I get enough motivation, I will continue to update weekly!

Until next time.


	8. The Nightmare Has Only Just Begun

**A/N: **First things first, I would like to thank **lefrancais**, **Bronzelove, ****JohnCenaRkoFanForever** and the mysterious **guest **for leaving me your wonderful reviews. I definitely feel much more motivated to write. Keep them coming! Also, a huge thank you to the two people that have followed my story. I love you all!

**Very Important Note: **I am going to be changing the title of my story for storyline purposes very soon. (The title is in the cover of my story already. Make sure you remember it). I thought I should make everyone aware of the change, just in case people may not be able to find my story later on (if you aren't following, that is). So don't be alarmed if the title changes!

This chapter is dedicated to **Rko** for helping me a little with the storyline and title. Big *heart* for you.

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"Wake up, my lady," Somebody whispered, prodding my arm constantly. It was beginning to frustrate me immensely. "My lady?"

Strangely, I found it difficult to open my eyes but once I did, I realised I was sprawled on the floor. My white nightdress was now smeared with dirt and my hair had a few dry leaves stuck in it. I paused for a second and scanned my surroundings. _"Hang on; I'm not supposed to be here." _I thought inwardly. I quickly got myself up and wondered what on Earth I was doing back in that dream world of mine. I remained quiet for a brief moment and it seemed like I was alone here. All I could hear was the rustling of the trees and the wind whooshing past my ears.

"Hello," A voice said somewhere from behind. That voice, I recognized it well. I immediately spun round and was now face to face with the cloaked woman I had encountered in my other dream. "You don't seem very pleased to see me." She chuckled at my blank expression.

"Why am I here again?" I brushed the dirt off my nightdress and pulled out a few of the leaves that had gotten tangled with my hair. I had no idea if I was turning mad or if I was genuinely in a dream world, looking like somebody who had just come back from a hunting trip.

"You must listen," Seriousness returned to the old woman's expression. "Dark clouds are approaching, my lady."

"What is that supposed to mean? It's going to rain today?" I grated. Her cryptic messages that made no sense to me were only confusing.

The woman didn't even draw a smile. "I can sense strong magic. You must be more vigilant. There are signs in front of your eyes, my lady."

"I am being vigilant. I know very well that there is somebody out to kidnap me," I crossed my arms. "Do you have anything to do with this? I still don't understand who you are or what you want." I eyed her.

"My only task is to protect you. Sadly, others want the opposite."

"But who are you? Why protect me?" I asked, still quite baffled.

She sighed and then grinned. "You needn't know who I am just yet," I rolled my eyes at her. "And you, my young one… If only you truly understood your importance."

"Why am I important? Why don't you answer any of my questions properly?" I said frustratingly.

"If only I could tell you how important you really are." She chuckled.

"Why can't you?"

"Events would change. And most importantly, your destiny would change."

Well, that was the most nonsense I had heard in a while. What was the use of trying to get information out of her is she wasn't planning on telling me anything? "Alright, at least tell me why you keep coming back to me."

The woman inched closer towards me and she reached out for my hands, grabbing tightly onto them. I began to feel extremely uncomfortable, her wrinkly, old skin felt odd against mine. "Think of me as your guardian, nothing else." She beamed.

Her smile began to fade ever so slowly. Everything was spinning in circles and there was nothingness, just pitch blackness. It lasted for a quite a while until I started to awaken from my sleep. I was back in my chamber and I looked through the window; it was a bright, sunny morning. And thank goodness for that because I remembered that I was going to be horse-riding with Arthur. Curiously, I looked down at my nightdress to check if it really was dirty and covered with mud but luckily, it wasn't.

I clambered out of my bed and stepped out onto the balcony to find a horse out in the courtyard and Merlin equipping it with a saddle. I dressed in a not so fancy green dress and directed myself straight to the courtyard.

Once I did, Merlin had already finished tightening up the saddle. "Hello, Eleanor," He waved. "Your horse is coming, hang on a second."

He was about to wander off somewhere but I called him before he could go anywhere. "Can I come with you? I assume to the stables?" He looked taken aback but he nodded in agreement and we headed to the stables.

Once we entered, I was surprised by the sheer size of the building and the amount of horses there were. Merlin walked up to a brown one and began to untie it. A drapple grey horse caught my eye; I could have easily mistaken it for a unicorn. I walked over towards it and it neighed at me. I patted the beautiful animal and it snuggled its head onto my chest.

"Look, Merlin." He stopped untying the horse and looked over and noticed how comfortable the animal was around me.

"I think he likes you," He grinned. "Maybe it's better if you ride on that horse and I ride on this one." He scurried over to my side and began to untie the drapple grey horse. Once it was free, I held onto the side of its rope halter and directed it out of the stables alongside Merlin, who jumped onto his brown horse.

Arthur was finally in sight; he was stood by the horse and was fiddling with his belt around his waist. Merlin gave out a cough and the Prince looked up, rather startled to see me already at the courtyard. "Ah, you're already here." He pointed out.

"Indeed I am." I grinned. The Prince soon enough wandered to my side and I let him help me up onto the horse.

"I do hope the saddles have been put on correctly." Arthur eyed his servant. Merlin rolled his eyes at him, clearly annoyed. Arthur climbed onto his horse and even jiggled a little rather ridiculously, which I assumed was his way of testing the saddle was really fixed on properly. Merlin let out a slight groan at Arthur's teases.

"Prat." Merlin muttered ever so quietly under his breath. I glanced at him, grinning, and then I glanced at the Prince, who seemed to have not heard Merlin's funny insult.

Once the saddle had the all clear from Arthur, we began to trot out of the castle. "Right, let's go." The Prince told us.

Arthur slowed down his horse and forced it to trot beside mine while Merlin rode his horse in solitude behind us. We entered a huge field of dry grass and we were nearing closer to the thick forest ahead of us. "My father has told me about what happened in Darcia," He mentioned, breaking the awkward silence that was beginning to loom. "I think what your father is doing is the right thing."

"Maybe," I sighed slightly. I was hoping that my family wouldn't turn into the topic of conversation but it already had. I really wasn't in the mood to feel sad and gloomy about things. "What else did your father tell you?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Nothing that you don't already know." He glanced over at me and all I did was nod at him.

Once again, silence was beginning to loom. I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "So, where exactly are we heading?" I smiled eagerly. Once the Prince had noticed my cheerier mood, he joined in with me.

"The Mountains of Forloin," He pointed out into the distance and only then had I noticed the mountain's icy peaks vaguely positioned in the horizon. They were very distant so the peaks were quite hazy. "Not too far from here is an amazing place where you can see the mountains very clearly. It is quite a sight."

"I can imagine," I placed my hand just under my eyebrows, trying to block the sunlight from hitting my eyes as I gazed at the towering peaks in the distance. "Darcia I'm afraid doesn't have sights like these."

"Then I shall make sure that Princess Eleanor visits every corner of Camelot." He chuckled and I gave out a small laugh.

"A promise is a promise, Prince Arthur." I grinned.

We began to enter the thick forest and the tree's canopies were blocking the sunlight, darkening the forest a little and creating a slightly eerie ambience. I was now entering territory I had never entered before.

After at least an hour of horse riding through the forest, we reached the end of the thick forest which stopped us on a slope. I could finally see the sunlight once again and the mountains were clear in our view. No trees or clouds blocked the way; it truly was an amazing sight.

"This is quite amazing." I looked in awe.

Arthur clambered off his horse and Merlin followed. Reluctantly, I clambered off my horse too. "It really is," The Prince said. "Merlin," He turned to face the boy wandering behind us. Merlin neared himself to the Prince. "Didn't Gaius… Ask you to pick those… Flowers he needed?" He coughed. Merlin raised an eyebrow at him, seemingly confused at what Arthur was on about.

"What flow –"

"Yes, those flowers," Arthur cut him off before he could continue speaking. The Prince nudged him and signalled something to the boy which he soon understood. "Well?" In an instant, he scurried away, leaving the Prince and I alone. I laughed at his very obvious attempt to shoo Merlin away. Arthur then sat himself on a huge rock which was almost like front row seats to the view. I decided to sit beside him, leaving a couple of centimetres between us. "So far have you enjoyed your day?" He asked me.

"Yes, I really have." I told him. Leaving the castle walls every now and then felt great. Sitting in a castle all day literally drained me out. It was nice to have a little time with nature.

"I'm glad. I think it has done you good." He smiled sincerely.

"Being in-between castle walls all day isn't fun at all."

"And training all day isn't either." He smirked. He leaned back casually against the rock with his arms being the support for his body.

"What do you do in training?" I asked him, trying to maintain the conversation. I didn't want things to get strangely awkward.

"Sword fighting most of the time," He said. "And I'm quite good at it, actually." He bragged.

"I'll have to see that for myself." I chuckled.

My horse then gave out a loud neigh, startling us both a little. The animal looked uncomfortable and it was digging its hooves into the ground. I walked over to it and patted its head. "What's wrong?" I asked it, realizing how childish I probably looked. It nuzzled its head into my chest and the animal soon relaxed once again. I couldn't help but smile at the horse's gestures.

"How do you do that?" Arthur wandered to my side with a baffled look on his face.

"Do what?" I chuckled.

"The horses normally aren't so friendly with anyone. It's odd to see it act that way around you." He seemed genuinely surprised.

"I've always loved horses. I used to have one in Darcia," I admitted. I faced the horse once again and began to feel slightly reminiscent and a little sad. Images of the horse I had back in Darcia and all the times I rode on it rushed in my head. "I guess I'm a horse whisperer." The horse gave out a loud snort.

"You can name it if you want. It can be your personal horse."

I thought for a moment as I let my hand gently run through the horse's long, white mane. "Sirius," He raised an eyebrow at me. "I know. It's… Silly."

"No," Arthur said, smiling. "It isn't at all." He reassured. Now we were both standing there looking at each other, not saying anything. We just grinned stupidly at each other for what seemed like forever but were only mere minutes as I patted my new horse, Sirius.

I could hear twigs breaking and leaves being crunched. Eventually, Merlin materialized. He gave out a short cough, making sure his presence was acknowledged. _"Thank God you're here, Merlin." _I thanked him inwardly, knowing he couldn't even hear me.

"We should be heading back." Merlin said.

Arthur gave out a short sigh. I could have been wrong but I was almost certain he was completely disappointed. And I guess I was too; once again, I had to return to the castle. "I think Merlin is right. I don't want to worry my father," I nodded. "May I assist you?" He placed out his hand and I grasped onto it, lifting me up in the process until I was sat comfortably on Sirius' back.

"Thank you." We shared a quick smile and both Arthur and Merlin clambered back onto their horses. Once everybody was mounted, we set off.

At last, we could see the tall towers of Camelot's castle in the distance but we still had quite a bit to go. Merlin kept moaning and groaning throughout most of the journey, which then led to Arthur telling him off. It was quite amusing to watch. About half an hour later, we finally reached Camelot. We were just a few metres away from the castle entrance when I heard a sudden noise and quick steps coming from somewhere behind nearby bushes. I came to a sudden halt and scanned the trees and bushes, checking if there was anything there. I couldn't see anything and I began to feel inexplicably uneasy.

"What is it, Eleanor?" Merlin asked, noticing that I was staring at something and that I was completely zoned out.

"It's nothing." I reassured him. I turned back quickly to check again but it was just bushes and trees; nothing out of the ordinary. I shrugged it off and simply ignored the sound, presuming it was a deer. With that, Merlin nodded and we entered into the courtyard once again.

As we entered, I noticed Morgana was waiting for us all. She smiled as she watched us. Arthur and Merlin climbed off their horses and once again, Arthur came to my side to help me. "I can manage, Arthur." I grinned at the Prince. I tried to climb off Sirius' but I hadn't actually realised how tall Sirius really was, causing me to misjudge the distance between me and the floor. I clumsily fell to the side but of course, Arthur's quick reactions saved me from getting hurt and he managed to grab me, leaving me dangling in his arms.

"You managed very well." He said sarcastically while laughing, which resulted in me rolling my eyes at him.

"Yes, now can you put me down please, Prince Arthur?" I told him sternly. Okay maybe I had to admit; I felt a little embarrassed that I acted so clumsy in front of him and that I had stupidly said that I could manage. Well, at least this time he was there to stop me from falling off a horse again.

"Yes, of course, Princess Eleanor," He put me down with that silly smirk of his still painted across his face. "It has been a nice day. I would definitely like to repeat it." He wiped the smile of his face and was now being sincere.

"Maybe another time." I smiled at him. There it was again, that deep stare into my eyes. His blue eyes watched me closely. He then turned away to face Merlin, much to my relief.

"Merlin, make sure the horses are put back into the stables. And don't forget you have boots to polish." He told the boy. Merlin stuck his tongue out at him while he was turned away. I patted Sirius one last time before Merlin took him away.

"I'll be speaking with Eleanor." Morgana came between me and Arthur, grabbing my arm and grinning at him.

"Go on then, do your girl's stuff." He laughed and walked away into the castle, leaving Morgana and I alone.

Suddenly, her smile faded and quickly turned into an expression of angst and worry. "I'm scared, Eleanor." She said, grabbing tightly onto my arm.

"What's wrong?" I asked, worried. I hadn't ever seen her like that before.

She looked around quickly. "I prefer to talk about this in my chamber." I nodded and we headed straight there.

Once we did, she made sure the door was shut and even closed the door with the latch, worrying me a little. "Morgana, are you going to tell me what the matter is?"

She looked around the room quickly before she even spoke. "Eleanor, these dreams keep coming back," Her eyes lost its shine it once had and her skin was paler than ever. "I'm terrified."

I remembered the last time she had a dream, she was absolutely petrified. "You have to tell me what you see in these dreams." I told her. She stepped closer towards me.

"I see Camelot burning, people suffering, bad people," She grabbed onto my hands. "I even saw _you_ in my dreams."

"What was I doing in your dream?" I asked curiously, though I wasn't sure if I was prepared to hear the answer she was going to give.

She sighed and almost hesitated to speak. "You were… bleeding. A lot. I even saw your father bleeding." She said looking extremely confused.

I was shocked but a little frightened. I didn't know what to tell her. "Morgana, I'm… sure they mean nothing. Have you sought to Gaius for help like I told you?"

"Yes. Nothing is helping. I don't know what to do anymore. I fear even falling asleep now."

"Morgana," I squeezed her hands gently. "Dreams mean nothing. You most probably have an active imagination." I smiled reassuringly.

She calmed down a little. "Maybe you're right," She smiled quickly. "I will go to Gaius for help again."

We then hugged tightly, not letting go of each other.

0000

_A few hours later, somewhere in a secret location… _

"Did anybody see you?" Nimueh asked the ragged, pheasant boy kneeling before her. The mute shook his head from side to side. "Good," She grinned and gave out an evil laugh. "Take this fool away." She ordered. The men stood beside her throne grabbed the boy, dragging him out of the room while he yelped in fear.

"What are you planning to do?" The beautiful woman standing beside her asked, grinning as well.

Nimueh looked at her, sipping wine from her gold goblet. "I want to see her suffer. And then the fun shall begin." She chuckled.

"And then the rest of Camelot will suffer." The woman said. Once again, they both chuckled loudly as they plotted their evil plans.

"Thank goodness I have you by my side," Nimueh smiled at the woman. "Morgause, what will you do about your sister?" She asked.

"Morgana?" Nimueh passed a gold goblet to her and she sipped some wine before continuing. "In time, you will understand." She grinned evilly.

Nimueh simply nodded at her and they both clanged their goblets together in a celebratory manner. "To magic!" Nimueh yelled.

"To magic!" Morgause repeated.

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**A/N:** A suspenseful chapter I hope. I also hope you enjoyed the little moment Arthur and Eleanor had. I know, it was probably nothing but I promise there will be more moments, so don't fret. This chapter has given a lot of clues to what's going to happen later on in the story so I hope you're excited as I am. Don't forget to leave me your fabulous reviews, which I honestly adore reading!

Until next time, my Artheanor lovers! Hehe.


	9. Oh, It Is Love, Darling

**A/N:** So my story has hit over one thousand views this week… I can't actually believe that! Thanks everyone. Also, thanks to the two **guests, JohnCenaRkoFanForever **and** emilyhiggins12** for reviewing. Love you all so much, thanks for your support! I updated a little earlier, so enjoy.

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I stayed in Morgana's chamber for quite a while, comforting her, talking to her and making sure she forgot all about those dreams. I had to admit, I felt a little scared even though I wasn't the one experiencing them. However, I was having a bout of strange dreams myself. What if her dreams had something to do with mine? Did they have any connection? In the end, no matter how much I thought about it, I realised that our dreams really had nothing to do with each other whatsoever. _"I sense dark magic." _The cloaked woman's words echoed in my head several times.

"Eleanor?" Morgana called, startling me.

I shook my head and zoned out of my daydream, realising I was still in her chamber and that it was actually getting dark outside. "Sorry, what?"

She grinned. "You've been staring out of the window for a while."

I guess I hadn't realised that I had been staring out of the window for so long. I was now debating with myself, wondering if I should tell Morgana about my dreams. I had no idea if it would make her feel even more frightened or if she'd feel a little more relieved. Then I thought about how much I trust her and the fact that she was willing to share her own experiences with me. I didn't want to keep them a secret from her any longer.

"Morgana… I've been having –"

But before I could even tell her, there was a knock on door. The door opened and revealed an exuberant Gwen, who was sweating quite a lot. "Morgana and Eleanor," She bowed and gazed at us both. "Uther has summoned you both for the feast."

"A feast? Whatever may be the reason?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, Eleanor. I think Uther wants everybody to eat together for once."

I nodded and Gwen bowed once more before eventually closing the door behind her, most likely heading to the kitchens to prepare food.

"Well then, we don't want to keep Uther waiting." Morgana grinned, clearly happier now. She walked over to me and locked her arm with mine, just like Ida would normally do. I felt like Morgana was not a friend anymore but was more like a sister.

Once we reached the huge dining hall, the doors were already wide open. Many of Uther's advisors and close friends sat at the table, including the king himself and his son of course, Arthur. The clanging of cutlery against plates stopped as everybody put down their forks to look at who had entered the room.

"Finally, you have both arrived," Uther grinned, sipping wine from his goblet. "Take your seats." He told us. Morgana quickly unlocked her arm from mine and headed straight to the spare seat beside Uther. And of course, the only seat left was beside Arthur. He grinned stupidly at me from afar, as if it was all planned.

"_How typical."_ I thought inwardly as I wandered over to the seat. A servant quickly rushed over to my side, pulling out the seat for me before I could even touch the chair. "Thank you." I smiled to the servant. I glanced at Morgana quickly, who was now smirking at me. Her intentions were blatant; I was seated next to the Prince and it was clearly very amusing to her. I already had Merlin teasing me and I didn't need Morgana to tease me now.

As soon as Morgana and I had settled into our seats, the sounds of forks scratching against plates and goblets clanging against each other resumed once again. Everybody was back to chitchatting, laughing and eating. There was already food placed on my plate; lamb it seemed, surrounded by a few potatoes and coated with a weird looking sauce. I wasn't so sure if I was even hungry. After only two mouthfuls of food, I began fiddling and poking with the meat, gazing at the plate as I did so.

"You're never hungry, are you?" The Prince questioned.

"Not really." I told him, continuing to prod the food left on my plate to turn cold.

"Is something wrong? I can't help but think you're upset about something." He looked at me, seeming genuinely concerned.

"Nothing is wrong; I can assure you of that." I faked smiled at him, hoping the Prince would notice I wasn't upset about anything, although maybe I was.

"Well, I'm glad to hear then," He smiled. "I thought maybe you were and I was thinking about it all day."

"You were?" I asked him, bemused.

"Yes." He poked one of the potatoes on his plate with a fork and shoved it into his mouth.

"I never knew you cared so much." I joked. I didn't really understand why he would.

"I never knew you would kiss me on the cheek." He grinned, making me turn bright red as I relived that moment in my head. Oh god, he didn't seriously just bring that up, did he? But then again, he was just another arrogant Prince. For some strange reason, I darted my head in both directions, making sure nobody had heard what he had blurted out.

I gave out a rather awkward laugh. "I like to surprise," I joked, really hoping the conversation would divert somewhere else. "Your food," I pointed at the meat still lingering on his plate. "It's, uh, going to get cold. Eat up."

"I prefer to talk to you. The food can wait." He grinned, his smile making me melt a little inside.

"_No, I must stop,"_ I told myself inwardly. _"No. Concentrate on the food, El." _What on Earth was happening to me?

"I presume you use that with every woman you meet?" I sipped some wine from my goblet, trying to look merely affected by his compliment. He raised an eyebrow at my bluntness.

"Actually, I do not," He seemed slightly offended which amused me, I had to admit. "You know, I've never met a Princess like you." He laughed, still looking quite surprised.

"Well, now you have." I giggled, sipping wine from the goblet once more.

"I'm glad."

Suddenly, the loud commotion in the room began to quieten down. Everybody was gazing at something. I looked back and through the dining room doors entered a man. I looked in awe. I had to pinch myself to check if it really was happening. Yes, he really was standing by the doorway of the hall. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be really happening. Everybody stopped and stared while he smiled at me from a distance. He was really here.

"Jasper!" I yelled, instantly jumping from my seat and running towards him. I threw myself over him in excitement which resulted in him jolting back as we shared a hug. "I can't believe you're here." I smiled wide. He was tangible and he was breathing, meaning I wasn't daydreaming and that this was actually happening.

"I'm here, El." He smiled and once more, I hugged my older brother.

"Jasper," Uther immediately stood up from his seat, looking as shocked as I initially was. "What brings you to Camelot so late in the evening?"

He looked down at me before answering the king. "I have been missing my sister a lot, sire," He placed is hands on my shoulders for a few brief moments. "I didn't want to wait until dawn so I decided to come earlier."

The king grinned. "You have come alone?" He asked.

"Yes, sire." He answered.

"Get one more chair for Prince Jasper immediately," The king ordered one of the servants who scurried away in search of another seat. "It is a great pleasure to have you back. Eleanor has been kept completely safe under Camelot's watch."

"And for that, my family is more than grateful, sire," The servant scurried back into the room, placing the seat just opposite Arthur. Everybody watched as Jasper sat himself on the chair. I too went to sit on my seat next to Arthur once again. "Arthur, how very nice to see you." He stretched out his hand and both men shook hands in a brotherly way.

"The same could be said to you, Jasper."

"I can't believe you're really here." I beamed, still not quite believing we were seated in the same room. At that moment, a servant arrived by his side and laid down a plate and cutlery in front of him. Everybody resumed to what they were doing.

"I needed to see you, El." He smiled.

"I'm certain Eleanor has been missing you a lot." Arthur added.

"Yes, I really have, you cannot imagine." I smiled back at my brother.

0000

The feast had finally ended and everybody was now returning to their chambers after a long night. I on the other hand was desperate to talk to Jasper. Something about his arrival didn't really add up. Why would have he arrived alone?

When I had reached the guest chambers, I knocked on the door. Loud footsteps started to near the door until eventually Jasper opened it, smiling once he saw me. "Eleanor, aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"Yes," I barged past him and entered his room. He then closed the door behind him. "Now tell me why you're really here." I crossed my arms and glared at him. He looked taken aback.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused. "I've been missing you a lot, that's all. Everybody at home has."

I rolled my eyes at him, knowing that something was still fishy. "You expect me to believe that, Jasper?"

He sighed. "It's true," I glared even harder at him. "But maybe there are other reasons as to why I'm here."

"I knew it. Now will you tell me?"

He paused for a moment, almost reluctant to tell me the truth. "Things in Darcia have… worsened." He lowered his head.

"What do you mean? What's been happening?" I asked. I was beginning to panic a little.

He sighed once more, this time even longer. "Father believes that whoever is after you knows that you're in Camelot."

My heart dropped. "But how?"

"There was another note… Father thought it was best if I came to Camelot to protect you."

Fear rushed through my veins. "What did it say?"

"I think it said something about knowing where you are… And the fact that they have an urge to harm you."

"What!?" I yelped a little too loud.

"Eleanor, don't shout," He scowled. "The person who wrote the note never actually mentioned you being in Camelot. Maybe this is just some sort of evil scam to bring you out of hiding."

"Shouldn't we be telling Uther about this?"

"I will tomorrow," I watched him as he went behind a screen and started to remove his clothes. "Now, don't you think it's time to go to sleep?" He said from behind the screen.

"Fine." I sulked, leaving his chamber and heading straight to mine.

As I strolled through the corridors, all I thought about was what was going to happen to me. Now I felt even more threatened and less safe being in Camelot. _"Why me?" _I groaned inwardly.

0000

It was early in the morning and Jasper made sure to wake me up, which put me straight into a bad mood. I knew I had to wake up because he was planning on telling Uther about the threat looming over Darcia, though I didn't understand why I had to be present during the meeting. But then again, Jasper was older than me, so I had to do as he said. Once I was all dressed up and looking appropriate, we headed straight to the council chambers, where we found Uther discussing something with his son.

"Sire," Jasper called, instantly causing the king and Arthur to look up. "I'm afraid I have unsettling news regarding Eleanor's kidnapper."

"What has happened?" Uther asked, looking unsettled.

"I believe that the kidnapper might be aware of Eleanor's whereabouts. Sire, we must be more careful."

Uther looked at his son for a moment and then placed his hand on his chin, thinking about something. There was silence for a few brief moments. "Make sure she does not leave castle grounds unattended. We must lengthen the guard's nightshifts."

"I agree, sire." Jasper obviously agreed and I obviously could do nothing about it.

"Who is to escort Eleanor if she is to leave castle grounds, father?" Arthur intervened. Great, now I can't go anywhere without somebody having to spy on me. I was beginning to feel like a little girl but I knew that what had to be done, had to be done.

"One of the guards. They must be available at all times." The king ordered.

"Father, I don't think most guards are always available," He looked up at Jasper and I. "I should escort her. I'm sure Jasper would agree." Oh, and then there was me thinking he was getting rid of the idea of having a bodyguard. Instead, I was most likely going to have to tolerate Arthur watching me all the time.

"I think Arthur has a point, sire." My brother agreed with The Prince, of course.

"I don't think this is necessary." I intervened.

"It is more than necessary, Eleanor," Uther glared at me. "I vowed to your father that I, as king, would protect you while you are in Camelot," I sighed in defeat. I didn't dare speak more. "Arthur, make sure she stays safe." He patted Arthur on the back and he nodded in agreement. I glowered slightly as Arthur and I shared a glance. I was annoyed, to say the least. I was beginning to feel like I had no freedom at all.

0000

As the Prince lay in is bed, staring at the bed's red canopy above him with his arms behind his head, his mind wandered off. What he was beginning to feel wasn't normal; at least to him it wasn't. He couldn't help but think that Eleanor felt some sort of resentment towards him and he was eager to change that. Now that he was her guard for the meantime, it meant he had to protect her and watch over her, meaning he could gain some more time with the girl who had intrigued him since day one.

_Clang. _Immediately, Arthur turned his head to the noise's source. The noise was sudden and he perched his ears in order to hear anything else. Nothing. It couldn't be a good thing. Slowly, without alarming the person who was in the corridor, the Prince got out of his bed and tiptoed every so quietly towards his sword. He grabbed it and began approaching the door. He got hold of the door's handle and gently opened it.

Once he was exposed to the cold air, the hair all over his body rose. "Who's there?" He whispered, looking in both directions. It was dark enough for hardly anything to be seen. A draft had most likely blown out all the candles. He grabbed tightly onto the sword's grip, making sure the sword was positioned in front of him at all times. He could hear something clanging against metal and instantly, he knew where the sound was coming from. He continued to tiptoe as he followed the sound and prepared himself to fight off whoever it was.

Suddenly, he saw something move ever so slightly just at the end of the corridor. At last, he had cornered them. He pointed his sword at the shadowy figure as he slowly approached them.

"Ah!" The figure gave out a shriek as it acknowledged Arthur's presence and the Prince jumped.

"Eleanor?" He said, bemused.

"You scared me." Arthur recognised Eleanor's voice and immediately lowered his sword.

"What are you doing…? Alone? In the corridors?" He questioned.

"I… Accidentally made one of the candelabras fall. I was just positioning it. I, um, was arriving back from Morgana's chamber." She avoided his stare. And she didn't have a clue where to look at, considering the Prince was shirtless.

At first the Prince raised an eyebrow at her but he sensed truth in her words. "I don't think it's a good idea to walk alone in these corridors." He advised her.

The candles which were once stuck onto the candelabra were now scattered on the floor. Eleanor went down on her knees and grabbed them one by one. "Let me help." Arthur offered, dropping his sword by his side and grabbing a few of the candles as well and placing them onto the candelabra. Intentionally, the Prince reached out for the last candle at the same time Eleanor went to grab it, there hands now touching one another as they looked into each other's eyes.

"Thank you," Eleanor was quick to divert her look and remove her hand from his warm touch, placing the last candle on the candelabra. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you." She grinned, embarrassed slightly. She was still having trouble figuring out where to look.

"It's fine, Eleanor," He reassured, grabbing his sword from the floor. The sound of her name sounded nice in his ears. "At least you are safe."

The young Princess smiled at him before turning away and walking away from him. He smiled back and watched her every move as she disappeared. But before her face vanished into the dark, she looked back quickly, glancing at the Prince once more.

The Prince, now left alone in the darkness of the corridor with his feet beginning to tingle from the cold, decided to head back to his chamber again. Once he did, he put the sword back into its place and clambered under the covers of his bed. Once again, he laid in his bed, staring at the canopy above him, his thoughts constantly on her. If only they both knew that the glance they had just shared would eventually turn into something much, much bigger.

_It's been hardly a moment,__  
__And you are already missed._

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**A/N:** **Disclaimer:** The song lyrics are from _'Oh, It Is Love'_ by _Hellogoodbye_. I do not own the song.

Did you like this chapter? I really hope so. I'm sort of having a little bit of writer's block at the moment but I'm sure it won't last long. No worries. :) Nothing much really happened in this chapter, but the drama will begin later. Was I too soppy towards the end with the whole Eleanor and Arthur thing? Hahaha. Anyway, don't forget to review because I love reading them.

Until next time.


	10. Visions and Training

**A/N: **Hey again! I'd like to thank **Rko** and **emilyhiggins2 **for your reviews. Thanks so much for the ongoing support, much appreciated!

Okay, so… School is going to start on the twenty second for me (boohoo, sad face,crying right now). This means I won't have as much time to write up the chapters as much as I'd like to and I'm not sure if I should carry on with the story…

I have _long_ school hours too which makes it even harder to update because I get home feeling exhausted and lazy (The schools in my country are so tough on us, trust me). So if you really, really, really, really, really want me to carry on with this story, please let me know… PM me or Review or Follow the story or anything. If I feel motivated enough and there are readers actually enjoying the story, I will happily find time and put in the effort to write (However, I will probably only be able to update every fortnight or less, it depends).

Enough of me. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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_People were rushing past me, as if I was invisible and I wasn't actually there. I recognized the place I was in; I was in Darcia, in the castle. But how did I get back? Nobody looked at me; they just carried on with what they were doing. Their faces told me something was terribly wrong. For a few minutes, I just stood there watching curiously. Nobody took notice of me. That's when I caught sight of my mother, running and screaming. She was heading towards me; I was preparing myself to hug her as she sprinted closer and closer but instead, her body went through mine like I was a ghost. What the hell was going on? _

_I turned around and I saw her grabbing onto the servant's arms, begging her for something. However, I couldn't quite make out what she was yelling. The loudness of her yell and the tone of her voice made me certain that something wasn't right. Next thing I knew, Ida came rushing towards me as well. And just like my mother had just done, she walked through me, sending a strange chill through my body. Tears were rolling down her cheeks._

"_Ida!" I ran straight to them but they couldn't hear me. Neither of them turned around. "What's happening?!" I yelled. But yet again, it seemed like they couldn't hear my cries. I went to touch Ida's arm and that's when my hand passed straight through her. I watched in shock. Was I a ghost? Had I died?_

_And as Ida spoke, my mother's mouth lowered, she fell to her knees and wailed, the tears rolling down her cheeks like a waterfall. All I could do was watch both of them cry and I could do nothing about it as I stood right in front of them, completely and utterly invisible to their eyes. _

_Suddenly, the bell in the castle's tower went off. I recognized the sound very well. It was the passing bell, only used for when somebody had died. But who had died? Were they mourning me? As it all sank in, I was desperate to figure out what on Earth was happening and why I was here. And most importantly, why was nobody seeing me? _

"_Ida, please, can you hear me?" I yelled but both women still remained unresponsive to my calls. They didn't even flinch. "Somebody tell me what's going on!" I screamed as my eyes became teary. _

_That's when the sounds of evil cackling echoed through the corridor. It was loud and it was making my head pound. I blocked my ears with my hands, in hopes of blocking out the sound but to no avail. It just increased in volume. _

"_Eleanor," Somebody said in a happy tone. Instantly, I turned around and was face to face with a young woman that I had never met before. In her hands, a bloody dagger dripping fresh blood. "How very nice to see you." She grinned while approaching me. I didn't even speak a word. The first thing I did was run, run without even knowing where I was going. Something about her presence made me want to run. But I could hear the woman's footsteps coming after me, making me push myself even harder to flee. _

_Her footsteps were nearing closer and closer and I was beginning to sweat. I couldn't keep up the fast pace any longer. She grabbed me by the arm, her nails digging into my skin. She violently shoved me to the floor as she stood above my tired, weak body. She had caught me and she began to laugh evilly at her achievement. "Goodbye."_

"_No!" She raised the dagger in the air with both hands, clenching the grip. She glared deeply into my innocent eyes and then… darkness. _

0000

"Eleanor," Somebody was shaking me quite violently. "Eleanor!" This time, they yelled, instantly causing my eyelids to shoot open and make me jump a little in fear. Staring right at me was Arthur. "Are you alright? What happened?" He was worried and slightly horrified. His hands grappled very tightly onto my shoulders. I felt like I couldn't even speak. I sleepily reached out for his face and placed my hand on his cheek, surprising him. His face was tangible and I could touch him. Once I realised I was back in my chamber and I wasn't in a nightmare anymore, I immediately jerked my hand away from his face. "Eleanor, are you okay?" He asked once again.

I sat myself up so that my back was leaning against the headboard. I was still feeling extremely uneasy. I looked around for a moment. I really was back in my chamber. "Arthur?" I said, finding it hard to compose sentences because I was still feeling sluggish and sleepy.

"You were screaming. Did you have a nightmare?" He asked, worried.

"Sort of," I clenched my head. "I mean, I'm not sure what I was seeing… I saw… never mind."

He sat himself beside me, his weight making the mattress slope a little. "What did you see?"

"I don't want to talk about it. It was just a nightmare, right?" I hung my head low, feeling scared about what I had just witnessed. "I'm fine… You'd better get back to sleep." I said, beginning to dig myself under the covers once again.

"I'm not leaving yet. You were absolutely terrified."

"Arthur, it was nothing." I told him a little too sternly. I turned to face away from him and made sure the covers hid my head.

I heard him let out a sigh as I stared at the wall. "Please, tell me what happened. I just want to make sure you're fine." He said in a sad tone.

I was terrified and I didn't know what to make of it all. I thought for a moment and figured out it was probably best to tell him since he wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon. Reluctantly, I turned to face him with my head still snuggling onto the pillow. "Somebody was trying to kill me… and I was in Darcia and then… But then I saw my mother, she was crying, and –"

"Eleanor, it was just a nightmare. You're safe here. I'll go get Gaius." He interrupted, lifting himself up from the bed.

"No," Instinctively, I grabbed onto his arm, surprising him. "I mean… I don't need Gaius."

"Are you sure, Eleanor?"

"Uh, yes," I said, avoiding his stare at all costs. "I'm sorry for disturbing you… once again." No matter where I went, I was always causing mayhem.

"You apologise too much," He grinned. "Are you sure you're fine staying here alone?" He inched closer towards the bed.

"Oh please, you have other things to worry about," I covered my head with the covers once again. "And anyway, what would people think if they saw you leaving my chamber so late in the evening?"

"It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks," I heard the sincerity in his voice. He sat himself on the edge of the bed once again. "So, you'll be fine?"

"Yes, Arthur." I said stubbornly, though I wasn't looking forward to having to stay in the dark alone. But then again, I didn't want to act like a little girl.

"You know where to find me if you need anything." He made sure to let me know. The mattress returned to its normal shape as he lifted himself up. I noticed he walked slowly by the sound of his footsteps.

"Arthur." I called.

The footsteps stopped. "Yes?"

"Hurry up." I looked over to him and the corners of my mouth lifted slightly.

"Oh yes, right." He grinned and quickly left my chamber.

I made sure to cover my face with every inch of the sheets as possible. I wasn't really planning on sleeping, not that my mind was actually letting me anyway. I shut my eyes, in hopes of getting at least a little rest.

0000

Somehow I had managed to survive the night. I didn't really sleep much. I probably kept my eyes shut for an hour or so. The irrational fear of somebody being in my room to kill me was what kept me up all night. Talking about killing, what on Earth was that nightmare all about? A cloaked woman talking to me in my dreams was already weird enough, but then this? All I hoped was that Arthur's words were right; it was all just a nightmare.

Just like usual, I was interrupted so early in the morning by the sound of knocking on the door. Whoever it was, they didn't bother to wait and instead barged in. I placed the pillow above my head and groaned. "Who is it?" I mumbled.

"It's your brother," Jasper said. "And you'd better get dressed."

"Why? I haven't slept at all." I moaned.

"I know you haven't but today is going to be a long day," He walked over and pulled the pillow away from my grasp, which annoyed me. "Arthur told me you had a nightmare?"

I groaned and sat myself up on the bed. "So now you talk about me behind my back, hm?"

"He thought I should know, since I'm your brother. What happened, El?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I crossed my arms.

"But you were yelling, it can't have been good." I noticed he became worried.

"Just leave it," I didn't want to have to think about the nightmare again. "So, I have a long day today? Why's that?"

"You've always been so stubborn," He laughed. "Just get dressed and I'll tell you after."

"Where are we going?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"Just get dressed," He said, looking a little fed up with my questions. "I'll wait outside." And with that, he left my chamber.

Reluctantly and without any energy, I got myself up and headed behind the screen to get changed. Just putting on a dress was proving difficult for me. Once I had changed out of my nightdress, I opened the door to my chamber and found Jasper leaning against the wall. "Done. Now tell me where we're going." I shot him a quick smile.

"Follow me." He began to walk away and I just scurried behind him. What is it with everybody not answering my questions around here?

"This better be good." I rolled my eyes at him.

"It will be, trust me," He let his hand rest on my shoulder for a moment. "Well, at least that's what me, Arthur and Uther think." He grinned stupidly.

"I can't wait to find out." I said sarcastically.

We ended up in the courtyard, which was where I thought I was heading. But instead, we continued walking and reached the training grounds where sword fighting and battle practice normally went on. There we found most of the knights. Amongst them was Arthur, who was sending orders left, right and centre. And strangely, Morgana was also amongst the men, clenching onto a sword and listening attentively to Arthur's orders.

I looked at the group then back at Jasper. "I don't get it, what am I going to be doing?" I asked him.

"You," He grabbed a silver sword that laid on top of a pile of other dangerous looking weapons nearby and made me hold it. The weight and heaviness of the metal surprised me a little, making me almost drop the sword to the ground. I had to hold the sword up with both hands. "Are going to be training your self defence. And Morgana too."

"What? That's ridiculous." I growled at him.

"No it's not. You need to be able to defend yourself, especially when you're constantly under threat, El," He spoke like he was the father figure around here. I was struggling to keep the heavy sword up straight. "Arthur," He called the Prince. Everybody, including Morgana, looked up and stopped swinging their swords. "Eleanor's ready to start training." He pushed me forward with his hand digging into my back and I glared at him.

"Eleanor," He smiled. "Join Morgana." The Prince gestured to stand next to Morgana. I hesitantly walked over to her side, literally dragging the sword along with me. Once I was positioned in the group, Arthur began blabbering on about something and every knight made sure they were listening carefully. I on the other hand was feeling a little rebellious.

"I can't believe we have to do this." I whispered into Morgana's ear, a quiet chuckle escaping from her lips.

"Look on the bright side," She eyed every knight and smiled flirtatiously as she did so. Most of them were now finding it hard to concentrate on Arthur's speech and instead were awed by her looks. "We'll be able to find you a suitor." She whispered.

"Oh, I don't need one but I will find _you _one." We giggled like little girls which seemed to have grabbed the Prince's attention.

"Right," Arthur called, making everybody stand up straight. We were in a circle with the Prince right in the middle. "Knights, I want you to train together. The ladies are going to be trained separately since they still require the basic skills and training." The knights nodded in agreement and wandered off not too far and began practicing in their little group. Arthur made me and Morgana look like completely unskilled girls, which I had to admit, offended me a little.

"I can handle a sword pretty well," I grinned, making sure Arthur was aware. I even swung the sword in the air, though I wasn't used to heavy swords. "See."

"You still need practice, both you and Morgana," He said, which seemed to have amused him. He removed a rather large and sharp looking sword from his belt. "First, you're both going to learn how to swing your sword," He looked at me. "Safely." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Who doesn't know how to do that?" Morgana said. At that point, my hands began to ache from holding the heavy sword. I let the sword drop from being up straight to touching the ground and I held it by its grip, trying to give my hands a rest.

"This is ridiculous. We aren't men." I mentioned, hoping that maybe he'd actually realise that.

"I know that," Arthur said. "But don't you think this sort of training is necessary?"

"No." Morgana and I said at the same time.

"Well, my father and Jasper have both agreed this is the right thing to do," He positioned his sword in front of him. "Try this manoeuvre." He swung his sword from left to right and did a little spin as well.

We did as he said and swung our swords as similar as to how Arthur had done. But the weight of the sword was frustrating me and it was making my swings look sloppy. I let out a loud huff as I tried keeping the sword in the air but eventually, I gave up. Morgana on the other hand was managing very well, much to my surprise.

"Let me show you, Eleanor," Arthur put his sword back onto his belt and wandered to my side. He grabbed hold of my hands which were still gripped around the sword and he swung it from side to side, making the sword much more lightweight. "You see what I did there?" He asked.

"Yes." I said, turning slightly red but trying my best to mask it. I could see from the corner of my eye that Morgana was trying her best to keep in her laughs.

"Good," He smiled. "Keep practicing that. I will be back. I must talk to my men." Morgana nodded and he wandered off to the group of knights who were all huddled together discussing something.

"Oh, you don't need a suitor?" She elbowed me and winked.

"Of course I don't," I grinned. "Who has time to deal with men?"

"Eleanor likes the Prince, Eleanor likes the Prince." She sang happily.

"I most certainly do not," I protested a bit too loudly, shocked as to why she'd think such a thing. "He's too arrogant for my liking." I shot a quick smile at her. I made sure to let her know of it, hoping that she'd stop teasing me. I curiously stared into the back of Arthur's head, watching him talk to the knights and hold his sword. He must have felt my stare like an arrow hitting his head because immediately, he turned around and caught me looking. Great, this was now the second time I've been caught red handed.

I hoped that maybe he would turn away and carry on doing what he was doing. But I was wrong; in fact, he just kept looking and I kept looking. I didn't want to pull away mainly because I didn't want to make it look obvious that I was a bit embarrassed. A smile began to grow on his face and I couldn't help but smile back, looking at the ground quickly as I did. Soon enough, one of the knights startled him by nudging him hard on his arm, making him turn his attention back on them. I noticed how the knights began to laugh at something and I just hoped it wasn't because I had made a fool of myself.

"I don't need a suitor," Morgana mimicked me. "He's too arrogant for my liking." I playfully nudged her hard in the arm.

"We'd better get on with it and practice." I lifted the sword once again and attempted swinging it in the air as best as I could. Morgana gave up teasing me and ended up doing the same.

0000

"I want her alive." Nimueh ordered.

"How are we going to capture her, your highness?" The large man covered with bear fur said.

"I don't care how, think of something. Just don't bring her dead." She snapped.

"Yes, of course, your highness, anything you say, your highness." The man stuttered and bowed before her, clearly intimidated by the woman's presence. The man prepared himself to leave.

"Hengist." The woman called for him before he could leave.

"Yes, your highness?" He turned to face her and bowed once more.

"Make sure she suffers before you bring her to me." She grinned.

"I will make sure of it." He grinned as well before leaving the woman.

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**A/N:** I hope you liked this chapter although nothing much really happened. The next chapter is going to be quite eventful, so keep your eyes peeled.

Until next time.


	11. To Save The Princess Pt 1

**A/N: **Thank you** LadyMorganaPendragon**, **Rko** and **emilyhiggins** for reviewing! I'm glad you guys are loving the story, I am so pleased to know. I've updated super early so enjoy!

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For Eleanor, It felt like years had passed but it was only a week since Jasper had arrived. Jasper made sure she trained at least once every day to prepare her for any threats that would come her way. She spent most of her time trapped in the castle and having to tolerate everybody's orders. Every so often, Arthur would also arrive at her chamber to make sure everything was fine, something he started doing since that night she had that terrible nightmare.

As she was lying in her bed, there was a knock on the door. She gave out a grunt. It was still early in the morning and she guessed it was probably the Prince or Jasper checking up on her. Reluctantly, she lifted herself up from the bed and dragged herself to the door, opening it slowly. "Good morning," Morgana beamed, fully clothed and wearing a rather long, red cloak. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. Come in," Eleanor told her. "What brings you to my chamber so early in the morning?"

"I do a pilgrimage to my father's grave every year. Today is the anniversary of his death. Well, I wanted to take you with me. If you want to, that is." She grinned.

"Of course I'll come with you. You're my sister, Morgana," She smiled warmly at her, hugging her in the process. "I'll get dressed."

She nodded and Eleanor hurried behind the screen and removed her nightdress. She grabbed a random blue dress from the closet and dressed herself in it. Luckily, a pair of riding boots also sat nearby, so she put them on too. "Do you miss your father?" She asked her curiously from behind the screen, squeezing her feet into the petite boots.

"Yes, I do," Although she wasn't looking at Morgana, she could hear the sadness in her tone. "That is why I do this pilgrimage. I just… miss him very much."

Once Eleanor had squeezed the boots on, she uncovered herself from the screen and sat beside Morgana, who was sitting on her bed. "I understand," She placed her hand over Morgana's. "I think this pilgrimage will do you good." The woman nodded and hugged her.

"Ready?" Morgana asked her.

"Yes," Both women lifted themselves from the bed and left Eleanor's chamber, heading themselves to the courtyard where everything was already prepared for the trip. "I presume Arthur will be coming, since he is my bodyguard?" Eleanor asked, huffing slightly at the thought.

"Not to worry," She laughed. "Two knights will be escorting us today."

"Oh. That's good." She replied.

"You're not disappointed, are you?" She nudged Eleanor with her hip playfully.

"What?" The young princess said, shocked at Morgana's remark. "Of course not. In fact, I'm glad he won't be coming." She replied harshly, smiling at the same time.

"If you say so." Morgana grinned playfully. She loved teasing her, especially when it came to Prince Arthur. Morgana was certain there were secrets being kept from her.

They eventually reached the square; the two knights were already prepared, armoured with chainmail and carrying swords. Mixed in with the rest of them was also Prince Arthur himself, which didn't surprise Eleanor much. Morgana and Eleanor both mounted their horses, Eleanor's horse being her favourite one, Sirius.

"I hope your trip isn't too upsetting." Arthur walked beside Morgana's horse and threw her long cloak over the horse's back so it wouldn't obstruct the animal's legs.

"Thank you, Arthur." She smiled warmly at him.

"Make sure you return to Camelot before dusk." He ordered the knights.

"Yes, sire." Both knights repeated at the same time. And with that, both men whipped their horses and they began to trot away with Morgana and Eleanor trailing behind them.

As they distanced themselves further and further away, Arthur curiously watched Eleanor, her dirty blonde hair flowing in the wind. It had been at least over a month since the young princess' arrival at Camelot yet Arthur wouldn't stop acting as if it was the first day he laid eyes on her. He stood there for quite a while in thought, even when the group had disappeared from sight. That was until Merlin nearly came stumbling down the castle steps. "Where are they going?" The boy asked curiously, interrupting the Prince from his daydream. Merlin was finding it difficult to hold onto the amount of shields and swords he had in his arms.

"Morgana is on a pilgrimage to her father's grave," He replied in a sorrowful tone. He helped him a little by grabbing onto a sword and shield which Merlin nearly dropped. "You're such an idiot. Come on." He gestured to the boy and reluctantly, his servant scurried after him.

0000

The knights maintained themselves glued to Eleanor and Morgana at all times. One knight made sure they stayed beside Eleanor while the other one made sure they stayed beside Morgana, creating a protective cover. The whole bodyguard thing had been taken a little too seriously but Eleanor knew she couldn't complain. And that's when her thoughts wandered to the week before. Her nightmare, the fear she felt and then Arthur.

"You look troubled, Eleanor," Morgana mentioned, noticing her blank expression. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh," The Princess snapped back to reality. "I'm fine." She smiled ever so innocently.

"You're very secretive these days," The young princess just glanced at Morgana blankly. "I'm beginning to think there's a man involved." She grinned at the Princess. Morgana really never gave up on teasing her.

Eleanor gave out a small laugh. "When do I get to meet any decent men?" Maybe she already had but she was just having trouble admitting it.

They began to enter thicker forest where it became much darker. The knights automatically glued themselves even closer to the women and made sure they scanned their surroundings at all times.

"Wait," One of the knights ordered. In response, both women yanked back on their horse's ropes, making their horses come to a sudden halt. "I heard something," The knight whispered quietly. Everything was quiet and nothing happened for a long three seconds. "It was nothing." He reassured once the sound had stopped.

In the blink of an eye, savage men came yelling down the slopes with their swords piercing the air. All four immediately entered a state of panic, completely frozen. There were at least ten armed men and in a matter of seconds they had surrounded the horses, cutting off all possible escape routes. Both knights jumped off their horses, revealing their swords. They began to fight off the men but they were becoming overpowered.

"Run!" One of the knights defending the women yelled. That's when the bow and arrow struck his back, penetrating deep into his skin and making him bleed heavily. The now lifeless corpse fell of the horse and then to the ground.

"Stop!" Eleanor panicked as she watched both knights being killed in front of her eyes. Automatically, she glued herself closer to Morgana who now was also panicking and had no idea what to do.

Once the men had finished their savage and brutal attack, one of the outlaws inched closer to the women. "Ah, Morgana and Eleanor," The man spoke in a distinctive Scottish accent, a huge smile crept upon his face. "Get off your horses!" He yelled, making both women jump at his sudden change of tone. Obediently, they clambered off their horses, the fear in their eyes obvious to the outlaw. He laughed as he watched them shiver and shake, his sword now pointing at their faces.

"Do you know who I am?" Morgana questioned angrily. Eleanor hid childishly behind Morgana. She had a bad feeling that things were going to get from bad to worse and that these men were most likely going to kidnap both of them. "I am Uther Pendragon's ward! If any harm comes to us, you'll have your heads chopped off!" She made sure to warn them.

The outlaws looked at each other and laughed hysterically, the opposite effect Morgana had hoped it would cause. "I have no intentions on harming you. At least not yet," Some of the other men laughed coarsely. "You're both much more valuable to me alive, Lady Morgana and Lady Eleanor." He bowed, once again grinning.

As Eleanor remained protected behind Morgana, she came up with a quick idea. Looking down at her hand, she realised she was wearing a ring. But it wasn't any old ring; it was a silver ring with the seal of Darcia engraved in it. She didn't want to go forward with her plan, simply because the ring was special to her. However, she couldn't think of a better plan. She slowly removed the ring and dropped it on the floor, hoping that if anybody were to come after them, they'd find it. Luckily, as it hit the ground, it didn't make a sudden noise. Now she just prayed that she'd to get back to Camelot and that whoever was to find her ring, they'd know she's okay. She then glared at the leader in disgust. "Men like you should rot in hell." She spat.

The man stomped over to her, grabbing onto her chin tightly and forcing her to look up at him. Morgana watched on, feeling helpless. "A little big mouth we got ere'? Huh?" He laughed, his reeky breath making Eleanor desperate to free herself from his grasp. "Get them on the horses. Hurry up," He ordered his men. He let go of her chin and instantly, another two men grabbed onto the women forcefully and dragged them along, forcing them to jump onto the horses. There was no chance of escaping because they began to tie their hands up. "Let's go before Uther sends his men in search for them." His followers nodded and began to trot away.

An hour later, they arrived at a camp which already had a readymade fire and a tent put up. One by one, the men discharged themselves from their horses, including the leader. Both Morgana and Eleanor were forced to get off their horses that had been accompanied by other outlaws. Once they were off, the tight rope around their hands was cut off and they were shoved into the tent. They were now alone, watching the men through the slit opening.

"What are they going to do to us?" Morgana whimpered.

"I don't know, Morgana." Eleanor replied. Panic was beginning to take over both of them as they curiously spied on the men talking, laughing and drinking. The amount of men had lessened but there was still no chance of running away.

"He's coming." Morgana whispered and automatically, they both distanced themselves away from the opening, pretending they weren't doing anything.

The leader opened the slit with both hands, bright light entering the tent. He scanned both of them before speaking. "I trust you are comfortable?" He asked, grinning.

"I demand to know where you're taking us." Morgana ordered sternly.

"You'll find out soon enough. We have a long journey ahead of us. Get some rest." He smiled and wandered away. But Morgana wasn't going to stay in the tent any longer. Instead, she marched out of the tent, completely disobeying the leader's orders. Eleanor wasn't taking any of his rubbish either and followed confidently behind her.

"I wish to bathe." She spoke loudly, lifting her head up.

"You wish to bathe?" He questioned.

"I am the king's ward. I'm accustomed to certain standards. I am sure you are quite contented to stink like a pig, but I am not." She glared.

"The Lady Morgana wishes to bathe! Who wants to help me guard her?" All the other men laughed in excitement. All Morgana could do was watch in disgust. Her attempt to escape with Eleanor had now turned to a completely different direction, one she wasn't expecting to follow. "Come, my ladies." He grinned.

Automatically, two men wandered over to the women's side and grabbed onto them as they walked out of the camp and to the river nearby. Once they had reached the bank, the leader shoved Morgana closer to the river while Eleanor remained grappled under one of the outlaw's grasp.

"You may find the water a little icy." The leader said playfully.

"I'm sure I can manage," She glared at him then quickly glanced at Eleanor. She expected them to leave her but instead they watched onwards and she slowly reached out for the bow on her undergarment. "If you were any kind of gentleman, you'd give me some privacy." She said, refusing to discard any clothing in front of them.

"Well unfortunately for you, I'm no kind of gentleman. Now get on with it." He ordered as he inched closer to her.

She very slowly untied the bow on her undergarment and then removed it. The man who had been grasping onto Eleanor let go of her arm and dropped his sword as he approached Morgana, curious to watch. Morgana noticed it and both women shared a hopeful glance. She proceeded to removing the thin, purple dress she had on, exposing the white nightdress she had underneath. "You could at least turn your backs." She told them, covering her chest with the dress she had in her hands.

"So you can make a run for it?" He asked her, winking. "You think I'm that stupid?"

Morgana noticed Eleanor was creeping up behind him. "I think you're very stupid." At that exact moment, Eleanor managed to grab onto the sword that had been on his belt, making him turn around. Morgana gave him a powerful but quick punch to the face once he turned back, making him fall to the ground.

"Morgana, catch!" The young Princess screamed. She threw his sword in the air for Morgana to catch it while Eleanor managed to reach hold of the other one lying on the floor. Morgana caught it safely and struck the leader in the arm before he could lunge at her. Meanwhile, Eleanor swung the sword right in the other man's chest, making him yelp in pain. She was quick to drop the sword.

"Run!" Morgana screamed and both women quickly darted off as they left the injured men behind. They managed to distance themselves but the leader was catching up with them. Eleanor kept looking back and she could tell she wasn't moving fast enough.

"Quickly!" Eleanor panicked as she tried keeping up the fast pace. At last, it seemed they were getting further and further away. But that was until the dreaded happened; Eleanor sprained her ankle and fell to the ground. Morgana realised what had happened and ran back to her. "I can't get up. Get help!" Eleanor yelled as she clenched onto her painful ankle.

"I'm not leaving you behind!"

"Morgana, go, please!" She begged. She could hear the men coming and she didn't have a choice but to stay behind.

"Take this." Morgana handed her the sword she had.

"Go!" Eleanor begged. Morgana gave her a sorrowful glance and reluctantly, she ran. Eleanor quickly scrambled herself behind a nearby tree trunk, huffing in pain. The footsteps were louder and louder and she prepared herself to attack. She heard one of them approach the tree and that's when she swung her sword as hard as she could, taking them by surprise and penetrating the man's leg. He let out a loud shriek and it echoed through the forest. Maybe all that training wasn't that bad.

Luckily, the men had already lost track of Morgana. As soon as she heard the shriek, she thought of the worst. Eleanor had been hurt badly. She stopped to listen for anything else. Nothing. "No, no, no!" She panicked. She knew she couldn't wait any longer and darted off once again, this time running faster than she'd ever run. She just prayed that Eleanor was strong enough to hold on.

0000

When the news of Morgana and Eleanor's disappearance reached Uther's ears, he was desperate not to let any harm come upon them. And above all, he was outraged. In a desperate attempt to find them, Uther dispatched a search party into the forest immediately. Arthur and Merlin were part of the search.

Not long after the search party had departed from Camelot, they arrived at the crime scene where both knights laid lifeless on the forest floor. What was most worrying to them was the fact that Morgana and Eleanor's horses had been left behind with no signs of either of them. "Check if anyone is alive." Arthur ordered. The batch of knights huddled around both men and checked for pulse. But they were dead; there was nothing they could do.

All of them looked in shock at the scene; drips of blood were splattered on the sides of the horses and weapons were left behind. They all feared that the chances of both women having survived the apparent ambush were slim. As they scanned the scene for any clues as to where they could have gone, that's when Merlin came across the note stuck onto a nearby tree with a dagger. "Arthur," He called as he walked over to the piece of paper. He read every line and his face dropped as he read more. "It's a ransom note. They've taken Morgana and Eleanor hostage." Uther and Arthur's worst fears had come true.

As Arthur desperately looked round, confused as to what to do next, he caught sight of a shiny piece of metal reflecting sunlight in the midst of leaves on the floor. He approached the object and had to lean in closer to see what it was. On the ground was a silver ring. He picked it up, inspected it and brushed off the dirt smeared onto it. Once the dirt had been removed, he knew instantly whose ring it was; the unmistakable seal of Darcia was engraved into the silver. It could only have belonged to Eleanor. His stomach fell at the thought of her being in danger. The ring being left behind wasn't a good sign. He clenched tightly onto it, eventually placing it in the little pouch he had on his belt.

"The tracks lead off this way," Arthur pointed to the footsteps engraved in the mud. He removed his sword from his belt and followed the steps, the knights and Merlin scurrying behind him to keep up. As they followed, they could hear twigs being broken and leaves being stepped on. "Sshh." He whispered quietly to his men. They scrambled behind a tree as the running became louder and faster. As soon as it had approached enough, the Prince quickly lunged out of his hiding spot with his sword out, only to scare a frightened and almost naked Morgana. There was no sign of Eleanor. "Where's Eleanor?" He asked in a worried tone. Morgana shook her head tearfully.

0000

"How did you let Lady Morgana escape!?" The leader bellowed at his men, kicking over the cauldron that had sat on the fire. "Don't you think Hengist would have been happier with two of them?" He growled. Every single one of them hunched down in fear.

Once he had calmed down, the outlaw turned his attention back to Lady Eleanor who was being held by two of his men. She limped slightly, her ankle still radiating pain through her leg. He walked over to her and once again, grabbed onto her chin, moving her head from side to side. "Well, at least we've got this one." He grinned as Eleanor gritted her teeth in anger.

"What do you want from me?" She uttered.

"You," He laughed, making the young Princess jerk her face out of his grasp in anger. "Get her on the horse and let's go. We don't want to waste any more time." Against her will, she was dragged along by the men and then put onto a horse, not knowing where on Earth she was going.

0000

"It is such a relief to see you safe," Uther beamed as his ward came running towards him. They shared a long embrace. "I couldn't bear the thought of anyone harming you." He let his hand rest on her cheek as he stroked her skin with his thumb.

"The bandits still have Eleanor."

"I have received reports that Hengist's men have crossed the border." Arthur interrupted their little reunion.

"Hengist?" The king widened his eyes.

"You must send a rescue party." Morgana begged the king.

"Hengist… He has far too many men. And I believe he works alongside sorcerers. I am not willing to put my men in danger, nor my son," He told her. "We must wait until we hear more news. Only then will I be able to do something." Arthur and Jasper listened on in dismal.

"Until then, it might already be too late to save her. We can't abandon her!" Morgana said loudly.

"How many men are you willing to make me sacrifice?"

"As many as it takes! Eleanor gave herself up so that I could escape. I owe her my life." She stared deeply into Uther's eyes.

"She did so willingly. Like I have said, we must wait for more news."

"What?" She clenched onto Uther's arm. "I want her rescued!" There was silence in the entire council chamber. "She is more than just a friend. She's my sister." She said, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"I fear she's dead already... Hengist's men show no mercy."

"No," She backed away from the king. "We cannot give up hope!" She looked at everyone and everybody in the room made sure to avoid her gaze. Even if anybody wanted to help her, the King was the one in charge. "Arthur," She walked over to his side. "I'm begging you. You have to do something."

"My father is right. I'm afraid there is nothing we can do." The Prince replied harshly without even looking at her face.

"How can you say that?" Morgana was disgraced by the Prince's response. "How can you live with yourselves?" She shouted at everybody. "All of you!" And with that, she stormed out of the council chambers. The Prince reached into his little pouch and grabbed onto the ring he had found, secretly fiddling with it in his fingers as he stood there thoughtful.

_A few hours later…_

An outraged Morgana came barging into Arthur's chamber, not caring how late it was in the night. She found him moving stuff and placing things in a bag. "How could you be so heartless? Eleanor is the most kind and loyal person you could ever meet. She's been more than a friend to all of us and you would leave her to die with those animals?" She yelled at him.

"Morgana..." He said in an attempt to calm her down.

"Have you no shame? Do you think of no one but yourself?"

"Morgana…" He said once again, this time a little louder.

"I thought you were many things, Arthur Pendragon, but I didn't think you were a gutless cow –"

"Morgana," He said loudly, making the woman stop. "Perhaps if you would stop shouting at me for one second, you would notice that I am packing."

She lowered her head slightly in shame. "You're going after Eleanor."

"Of course I'm going after her, what do you take me for? I couldn't disagree with father in public." He finished packing. He closed his bag and threw it over his shoulder and began to leave.

"Arthur," She called, making Arthur turn around. "Bring her home."

He nodded and smiled at her reassuringly.

0000

The sky was beginning to darken and there was still no sign of anybody coming to help her. Eleanor was beginning to feel hopeless. In the distance, a castle was approaching, one she didn't recognize. They began to enter a populated village and everybody turned around to look at the men and then at her. Everybody made sure they were out of the men's way, not a single soul dared to ask what was going on. In fact, they all continued with their lives. They knew it was probably best not to even look at them.

Eventually, they arrived at the castle entrance. The walls were already crumbling and the smell of rodents filled the air as Eleanor was directed through the corridors, still being held forcefully by Hengist's men. They then reached a small chamber where a rather large and bulky man sat on a throne. She guessed it was probably the king, considering the amount of men that were guarding him. Eleanor was shoved to floor in front of the king's feet and she groaned, her ankle still hurting a little.

"Kendrick, I was beginning to think you'd failed me." The king smiled.

"Hengist," The leader called. "I present to you, Lady Eleanor, Princess of Darcia." The man smiled, contented with himself.

The king struggled to lift himself up from his throne because of his sheer size. Once he had managed, he looked down at her and grabbed onto her arm, making her stand up. He examined her face while she avoided his stare completely. "You really are as beautiful as they say, Lady Eleanor. I'm sure Nimueh would love to see you," He grinned, reaching for a strand of hair that had covered her face and placing it behind her ear. "No wonder Arthur falls for you." He chuckled.

"What?" She questioned. She was confused and she just wanted to get out of there. "I demand that you release me immediately." She growled at him.

"Just as soon as Uther Pendragon pays your ransom. In the meantime, you'll be my guest." He grinned.

"Do not flatter yourself," She spat. "I am not your guest, I am your prisoner."

He laughed. "As you wish. Take her to the dungeons." Once again, Hengist's men grabbed onto her and dragged her away, out of his sight. They threw her into the little cell underneath the castle. A dirty bed and crumbles of bread on a plate was all she had. They began locking the door with a key, making Eleanor panic.

"Don't leave me here!" She yelled, her hands grappled around the metal bars. "Please!" But of course, Hengist's men had no intention on helping her and instead, left her behind, ignoring her wails. "Please…" She whispered as her head leaned against the bars. She had never felt so helpless in her life. Knowing nobody was going to help, she slumped herself onto the dirty bed that sat in the corner of the room and dug her face in her hands.

0000

Arthur, Merlin and Jasper had managed to escape out of their chambers without getting noticed by any guards. And thank goodness for that because neither of them were willing to let Eleanor die. Now all that was left was the entrance of the castle. But it wasn't going to be easy; it was guarded twenty four hours per day and if the guards were to catch the three, Uther would stop them from leaving.

The three managed to hide behind a cart in the square. They slowly took a peek around it and found the two guards completely awake. "Jasper and I will fetch the horses, you distract the guards." Arthur whispered.

"How do I do that?" Merlin replied.

"I don't know. Do I have to think of everything?" Arthur said. He signalled for Jasper to go first and both men wandered to the stables, leaving Merlin to have to come up with a plan.

He noticed a batch of barrels nearby and that's when he came up with his idea. "_Binne_ _tófléon_," He whispered under his breath, his eyes turning a glowing orange. Suddenly, the barrels scatter, startling the guards. They neared closer to the barrels to check who had toppled them over. "_Alíese_," He chanted once more, bringing the barrels upright. The guards looked in horror. "_Swertha_." He chanted once again, this time making the barrels roll around in circles. The barrels then ended up toppling the guards over and making them fall to the ground, making Merlin laugh under his breath as he watched.

"What did you do?" Arthur and Jasper had returned with the horses. "I said distract them, not knock them out!" He told the servant off.

Merlin rolled his eyes at him. "There's just no pleasing you sometimes."

They didn't waste any time. It was dark and Eleanor was still out there. Quickly, they scrambled onto their horses and trotted out of the castle. It wasn't long before Merlin started to nod off. He was trying his best to stay awake but it wasn't proving easy. His eyes began to close until eventually he fell off his horse.

"Merlin! What are you doing?" Arthur quickly turned around to find his servant on the floor, looking unconscious.

"I must have fallen asleep. I'm exhausted. I can barely keep my eyes open," He said, rubbing his eyes in the process. Arthur trotted towards the sleepy Merlin and opened his bag to remove his canteen. He opened the cap and threw water on Merlin's face, startling the boy. "Thank you. I feel so much better." Merlin thanked the Prince sarcastically, a chuckle escaping from Jasper's lips.

"Eleanor's life is at stake. We cannot afford to waste a second." And the Prince was being serious. Although Merlin and Arthur were usually so playful, Merlin noticed that he wasn't in the mood at all. He immediately clambered back onto his horse and once he had, the three of them continued to ride deeper into the forest.

0000

Eleanor curled up on the small bed, staring into nothingness. She noticed from the little barred window that it was completely dark outside and the cold air was entering the cell. She shivered and rubbed her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to warm her up, but it wasn't working. The sound of a door unlocking echoed through the room and she noticed people were coming. She turned her head away, reluctant to look at those who had imprisoned her.

"Hungry?" She heard the horrible voice of Hengist. She ignored him and refused to talk to him. A hysterical laugh filled the room. "You're making things worse for yourself. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

"Where am I going?" Eleanor said, still refusing to look straight at him.

"Not to worry, Lady Eleanor," He laughed. "Give her food," He ordered. The sound of keys jangling together and then the turn of the lock echoed through the cell. Eleanor looked over her shoulder to find one of his men topping up the plate with two loaves of almost mouldy bread. And once again, they locked the cell, leaving her trapped again. "Sleep well, my lady."

"I'm not eating that." She spat.

"I'm kind enough to give you food and you refuse?" He pretended to be offended.

"Yes. I'd rather die than eat your mouldy food." She let her anger pour out into words.

"Be careful with what you wish for." He cackled before eventually leaving her all alone, once again.

0000

Arthur, Merlin and Jasper managed to ride out for at least an hour but it was becoming so dark, they had to stop and camp. They made a campfire and slept uncomfortably using only thin cloths as blankets. Once it was day, Arthur was up and ready to continue on his mission to rescue Eleanor. Jasper and Arthur were the first to awaken and were the first to pack their equipment. Meanwhile, Merlin was still fast asleep, comfortably snoring under a tree. There was only one way to wake the boy up; pouring water over his face.

Arthur grabbed onto the canteen he had in his pocket and knew he could use the rest of the water to good use. He walked up to boy and poured the rest of the canteen's contents over him, making Merlin jerk at the water's coldness. "Merlin." Arthur called.

"What's happening? How long was I asleep for?"

"Long enough."

"Did you get some rest?" Merlin asked, noticing Arthur's dark circles under his eyes.

"Couldn't sleep."

Merlin eyed him suspiciously. "I've never seen you like this," He grinned. "About anyone."

"What are you talking about?"

"Eleanor. You really care about her, don't you?"

He thought for a moment about his answer but then realised it was Merlin he was talking to. "What I care about is not wasting any more time talking. Let's get moving." Reluctantly, the boy lifted himself up and helped Jasper and Arthur pack.

* * *

**A/N: **Oh no, what's going to happen next? Will Arthur be able to save Eleanor in time? Keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter. :)


	12. To Save The Princess Pt 2

**A/N: **Thank you for everyone who reviewed. I love you all so much, honestly, I really do. Thanks for motivating me to write! I've updated super early once again. Hope you like the chapter, I'm already working on the next one!

* * *

Jasper had a map in his hand, pointing at locations on the paper as he thought. "The ransom was supposed to be delivered to the Veil of Denaria. If they're holding Eleanor, it has to be there." He showed Arthur and pointed at the location with his finger.

"Which means it'd save a day's riding if we cut through the tunnels of Andor." Arthur pointed at the entrance of a cave a couple of metres away. Both men looked at each other.

"Oh no, I know that face. I'm not going to like this, am I? What's in the tunnels?" Merlin asked, noticing their worried faces.

"They're… Infested with Willdeoren." Arthur admitted.

"What are Willdeoren?" Merlin became a little nervous.

"Well, they're like giant… baby rats." The Prince said, in an attempt to sugar-coat the situation.

"Baby rats? They don't sound so bad." He relaxed a little.

"They feast on human flesh." Jasper made sure to mention.

"Maybe we should go over the mountains." Merlin said, hoping they would agree.

Arthur noticed a nearby bush filled with red, wild berries. He walked over to it and smelled them, twitching his nose at its vile scent.

"Er… What are you doing?" Merlin curiously watched as Arthur inspected the bush.

"Willdeoren are completely blind, they hunt by sense of smell. Gaya berries will put them off the scent. So, if we smear ourselves with them, perhaps we can pass through the tunnels." He grabbed a few of the berries, squashing them against his face and smearing it all over. Jasper wandered over to Arthur's side and did the same. They really were going ahead with the rather silly plan, so Merlin went along with them and smeared some berry on his face too.

"Oh! Oh, these stink! Oh, they're really bad." Merlin moaned.

"Perhaps you'd prefer to be eaten alive." Arthur joked.

"Pass me some more, will you?" Merlin said, making Jasper laugh. Once all three had red faces smeared with the berry's juice, they began walking up to the tunnel. They entered the tunnel and found it was almost impossible to see anything. They tiptoed quietly in hopes of not awakening any of the Willdeoren. "Ah! I just stood on something." Merlin wailed.

"That was my foot." Arthur glared at the boy.

"Oh, sorry. How much further is it?" Merlin complained.

"Sshh! Willdeoren coming this way," Jasper spotted the large, blind creature approaching. Automatically, they hid behind a boulder. "Whatever happens, keep completely still." He whispered. Merlin and Arthur nodded.

Once the big, blind rat fell asleep, they fled as fast as they could, not wanting to stay another second in the infested tunnel. As they saw the light nearing at the end of the tunnel, they made sure to quicken their pace. As they stepped out and into the forest again, they all breathed a sigh of relief. They all rushed to a nearby stream, cleaning off the sticky substance on their faces.

"Gaya berries worked." Arthur smiled as he washed off the redness on his face.

"You didn't know they worked?" Merlin and Jasper repeated, widening their eyes.

"Not for sure." Arthur admitted.

"Now you tell us? Oh! Oh, what's that Willdeoren eating? It's all right. It's just Merlin and Jasper. You trying to get us three killed?" Merlin said in annoyance.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have risked our lives like that." Arthur apologised sincerely.

"Well, they do say love makes you do strange things." Merlin grinned, rubbing off what was left of the sticky berry juice.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked, confused.

"Why can't you just admit your feelings for Eleanor?" Merlin said with a grin still stretched across his face. Jasper smiled with the boy, he too waiting for the Prince's response. But instead, Arthur scoffed and ignored him. "It's so obvious. A blind man could see it. Is it really that hard to admit you like her? Just say it."

"I can't," Arthur sighed, taking Merlin and Jasper by surprise. "How can I admit I think about her all the time… if she makes me feel nervous? How can I admit I have feelings for her, not even knowing if she feels the same way? And how can I admit my feelings… if I've never felt these feelings before, Merlin?" Both Jasper and Merlin erased the grins they once had and realised the teasing had hurt Arthur slightly.

"Why can't you?" Merlin asked.

"Because… I don't know." Arthur sighed once more.

"I'm sure she feels the same, Arthur." Jasper tried to reassure the Prince.

"Nobody can know," Arthur began to walk away once he had finished drying his face. The other two scurried behind. "We don't even know if she's still alive."

"No, she is. We will find her."

"We've got a long trek ahead," Arthur continued to walk. He stopped sharply and turned to face the men behind him, pointing at their faces. "Oh, and both of you… if you dare tell anyone about this, I promise to make your lives a living hell."

"My mouth is shut, sire." Jasper told him, grinning.

"You mean, more than you already do?" Merlin joked.

"Yeah." Arthur answered, continuing to walk.

"We could talk about your feelings while we walk."

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur snapped, playfully hitting Merlin on the side of his head, making Merlin mutter 'ouch' under his breath.

0000

Eleanor was awoken by the sound of keys jangling and the lock of her cell turning. She hesitantly lifted herself up from the bed to look at who had arrived. It was Hengist, looking happier than ever. "Oh, Eleanor," He inched closer towards her. "I keep asking myself, 'Why does Uther not pay the ransom?'"

"I don't know," Eleanor trembled, slowly backing up into the corner as he approached closer. "Please." He forcefully grabbed her by the arm.

"It must be very upsetting knowing that Uther has abandoned you. It seems like no one in the world cares for you." He chuckled. Maybe he was right, Eleanor thought. If anybody had come to save her, they would have arrived a long time ago. The thought saddened her.

"I don't know why he doesn't pay. Please, I don't know." She whimpered as his dirty nails dug deeper into her skin.

"Well, if he doesn't pay up, then today may be the last day you'll live," He glared into Eleanor's eyes. He gave out a laugh when he sensed the fear radiating off her like heat from a candle. "Get her out of here," He clicked his finger and in an instant, two men entered the cell and grabbed hold of her arms. "Get on with it." He ordered. They nodded their heads and dragged her out, Hengist following them.

She tried her best to free herself from their grasp but it was proving impossible. They were far bigger and stronger than her. She was eventually dragged to a room where a large cage sat in the middle. "Throw her in and tie her," He grinned. Obediently, they dragged her into the cage, shoving her into it forcefully. They tied her hands behind her back and her feet where tied together, limiting all movement. "Somebody is desperate to meet you," He walked over to her, smiling. "Until then, you're going to be a good girl, aren't you? But before Nimueh arrives, I think my men deserve a little entertainment," He then pointed at the tunnel route that opened up inside the cage. "In a few minutes, a Willdeoren shall appear." He cackled loudly. He walked out of the cage and immediately, his men locked the cage door.

The name 'Nimueh' rung a bell but she wasn't sure where she had heard the name before. She trembled in fear. She had no idea what a Willdeoren was nor what it would do. "I'll do anything, please, just let me go!" Eleanor begged, fidgeting around in a desperate attempt to loosen the tight ropes.

"Anything?" Hengist raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Her voice trembled. At that point, she was willing to do anything and everything to get out of the situation she was in.

"Then be quiet and be a patient girl, alright?" He laughed.

Whoever this Nimueh was, Eleanor wasn't looking forward to meeting her. There was no point in begging; her destiny had been planned and she knew that Hengist and his men were to be the last people she'd ever see. The room was filling up with more savage men, each of them made sure to grin at Eleanor as they entered. They all cheered in excitement as they surrounded the cage. It was getting dark outside as each hour went by and the dreaded arrival of Nimueh was nearing.

0000

"We'll have to scale the walls." Arthur said as the three of them peered at the castle in their hiding spots in the woods.

"Maybe there's another way in." Merlin said.

"Why don't you go knock on the front gate? I'm sure if you ask nicely, they'll hand Eleanor over to you." The Prince joked with a serious face on.

"We'd better hurry." Jasper advised. They nodded and decided to run as quick as they could to the castle. Instead of going through the front, they thought it was probably best to go through the back.

Once they reached the back of the castle, they realised there were no doors or secret entrances they could use. There was no time to waste; Arthur noticed large rocks sticking out of the walls, making a perfect ladder to the top. He began to climb and Jasper followed. Although they were making slow progress, at least they were going somewhere. Merlin on the other hand was struggling; he had barely moved an inch from the ground. "You really are completely useless, aren't you, Merlin?" The Prince glimpsed at the boy underneath him.

"It's… Harder than it looks," The boy huffed, his hands already aching. He looked up and both men were climbing at a remarkable rate. "Oh, now you're both just showing off."

"Hurry up," Arthur called. Jasper and Arthur managed to reach the top level of the castle. Merlin took another few minutes before eventually reaching the top. "About time," They tiptoed and made sure to look for any guards in sight. At last, they found an unmanned entrance and made a quick dart towards it. The entrance revealed steps which went down into the castle. They rushed down them until they reached a lower floor. Instantly they hid behind a wall and peeked around it. There was a room with two bandits playing some sort of game. There was another entrance on the other side. "You distract them," Arthur whispered to Merlin. "Me and Jasper will knock them out."

"How do I distract them?" Merlin asked. Arthur put his arm around Merlin before eventually shoving him into the room, startling both the guards and Merlin. Immediately, they stood up and removed their swords from their belt.

"What are you doing there?" One of them asked, furrowing their eyebrows. They approached him but Merlin walked around the table so that they were now directly in front of Arthur's hiding spot.

"Nothing. Actually, it's a funny story. I was walking out and I took a wrong turn and here I am." Merlin stuttered. He had somehow managed to come up with a story quick enough.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Me? Er, I'm no one…" Arthur and Jasper sneaked behind the two oblivious men. "It's them you need to worry about." Merlin pointed.

"Who?" They turned around and Arthur and Jasper struck them both in the faces before they could even react, knocking them out cold.

Merlin looked down at the now unconscious bandits. "That actually worked pretty well." He grinned.

"Now we just have to find Eleanor and get her out of here." Jasper told them both. And with that, the three men began to venture into the castle.

0000

The room was now completely filled with savages and outlaws. They all cheered and grabbed onto the cage bars, roaring in excitement. Hengist sat on a large throne as he watched Eleanor tied up in the cage.

"Should I spare her?" He asked the crowd.

Everybody cheered louder. "Suffer, suffer, suffer!" They all chanted.

"Release the Willdeoren!" Hengist ordered. _"Why couldn't Arthur or Jasper barge into the room when I need them to?" _Eleanor asked inwardly. The tunnel's gate lifted slowly as one of the men pulled a rope to open it. Coming out of the darkness appeared a large rat like creature, its enormous teeth stuck out of its mouth. Eleanor tried backing away but she couldn't move an inch. It came closer and closer to her. She watched helplessly, knowing that any second now, the creature was to hurt her badly.

At that exact moment, Arthur, Jasper and Merlin entered the room and noticed all of the men were huddled around a cage. As one of the men got out of the way, Arthur caught a glimpse of Eleanor in the cage, and so did Jasper. Instinctively, Arthur jumped on top of one of the men and climbed up the cage, jumping in with the young Princess. Once he was in, he got out his sword and pointed it at the creature.

"Arthur?" Eleanor looked in shock. It was as if her prayers had been answered. Straight after, Jasper jumped in along with the Prince. With two quick slices, the Prince cut off the ropes that had constrained Eleanor.

"Stay behind me!" He told her, pushing her behind him. Jasper and Arthur pointed their swords at the creature as it roared. Everybody continued to cheer in excitement. They swung their swords at it, making only mere cuts to its side and face.

"How did you both find me?" Eleanor asked, making sure she stayed behind both the men.

"Long story!" Jasper replied, making a deep cut into the creature's side as it lunged at them.

Hengist watched his plan completely fail. He knew he had to do something to stop them. He got out his bow and arrow and aimed it exactly at Arthur's head first. Just as he was about to shoot, Merlin noticed his attempt to kill Arthur and was quick to react. "_Ic bebíede fealle._" The boy muttered quietly under his breath, making the chandelier above Hengist's head fall. Hengist managed to move out of the way but dropped his bow and arrow in the process. Instead, he removed the sword in his belt.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted at the boy. "Don't stand there cowering, let's go!" He ordered. Obediently, the boy quickly clambered onto the cage's frame and got in just before anybody stopped him. Hengist at that point entered the cage but the four made a run for it into the tunnel. Arthur was quick to grab onto Eleanor's hand. As they ran, Merlin stopped and noticed the gate was still open. There was still a chance for Hengist to go after them.

"_Learh fearnancai!_" The boy chanted once more, making the gate fall and enclosing Hengist with the Willdeoren.

"Merlin, let's go!" Arthur called, noticing that the boy had stopped. Merlin ran to them and the four ran as fast as they could. They managed to reach the end of the tunnel where they found the entrance was barred and locked with a chain. The Prince let go of Eleanor's hand and used his sword to hack away at the metal chain.

"Where are the rest of the knights?" Eleanor questioned.

"It's just us." Jasper replied, taking Eleanor by surprise. She wondered how they managed to come all that way without getting hurt.

The chain broke off and Arthur pushed the gate open. "We've got to keep moving." He gestured for the three to go first and so they did. Once they were all out, they ran far away. They didn't dare look back for an instant. It was already dark outside and the cold air was nippy.

They managed to run for a long distance and were now in the safety of the woods. They all tried catching their breaths as they strolled, eventually reaching a little readymade camp that Eleanor presumed they had done before they got into the castle. There were two logs facing a burnt out fire, which Jasper made sure was lit once again. Eleanor sat on the log facing the fire as the other three began to unpack.

"How did you undertake this rescue mission… by yourselves?" Eleanor asked them, still in shock.

"Uther wasn't willing to risk his men's lives to save you." Jasper told her as he removed cloths from a bag. He started to place them on the floor.

"Yet you disobey him and you came here anyway?" She noticed that Arthur and her brother shared a quick glance. Jasper wandered over towards her and sat by her side.

"We weren't going to let you die, were we?" He smiled, wrapping his arms around her tightly. As she hugged him, she looked up and found Arthur looking at her. At first he looked at her in a melancholic way but eventually the corners of his mouth lifted slightly, making Eleanor smile too.

"I'm so glad you guys managed to save me in time. I thought I'd never see Camelot again." She admitted, pulling away from the embrace.

"Hungry?" Merlin asked everybody.

"I'm sure Eleanor is. Bring something for her to eat." Arthur told his servant, who began to rummage through his bag. Merlin wandered over to the princess' side and handed her a loaf of bread. He also had another two loaves of bread in his hand and sat himself on the other log where the Prince was now seated as well.

"I'm not sure if I'm so hungry." Eleanor said.

"You've got to eat something, Eleanor," Jasper told her. "You probably haven't eaten anything in the past two days."

"I'll be fine," She replied, handing over the loaf of bread to Jasper. "If anybody needs to eat, it's you guys."

"You got that right," Merlin mumbled as he scoffed away at his loaf of bread, making the Prince nudge him in the arm. "I mean, you're wrong Eleanor. You should be eating something." He said, making Eleanor giggle slightly.

They sat around the fire for a while as the men scoffed away at their loaves of bread. Once everybody had eaten up, they started to set up their beds. It was going to be an uncomfortable night for all of them.

"Goodnight, Eleanor." Jasper told her.

"Goodnight." She smiled at him and he wandered over to the stretched out cloth on the floor nearby.

"I'm tired too," Merlin added, sharing a glance with the Prince. "Goodnight." He said.

"Goodnight." Eleanor and the Prince repeated. Eventually, the two had lied down on their handmade beds and began to nod off, leaving Eleanor and Arthur to sit alone by the warm fire.

"Thank you for coming this far to help me… I know you probably took a big risk, disobeying your father like that." Eleanor broke the silence that was looming over.

"Like your brother has said, I wasn't going to let you die," He smiled at her, making Eleanor look at the ground nervously. "Are you sure you're not hungry?"

"No, honestly, I'm fine." She tried to reassure him.

"I've brought fruit along with me too, just don't tell Merlin."

Eleanor gave out a small laugh. "Arthur, if I was hungry, I'd eat." She said, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. The air was getting chillier by the minute.

"Here." The Prince grabbed onto a blanket that was lying around nearby and wandered over to her side, placing it around her.

"Thank you, Arthur." She smiled warmly at him as he sat next to her with only a gap of a few inches separating them both.

"I believe I have something that belongs to you," The Prince said, removing the silver ring he had in his pouch and placing it in his palm. "I found it lying on the floor."

She widened her eyes at the sight of the ring, thinking she'd never see it again. "I can't believe you have it! I thought I'd lost it forever," She grabbed the ring off his palm and placed it back on her finger where it belonged. "The ring means so much to me."

"I know. That's why I didn't leave it behind." He looked into her eyes, smiling in the process. They were now so close; Eleanor felt butterflies flying around in her stomach. He looked at her, she looked at him and nobody else was watching. It was just them there, sitting together. Arthur started to lean in a little closer.

"When are you love birds going to be quiet and go to sleep?" Merlin moaned, awoken from his nap.

"Oh, shut up, Merlin." Arthur threw a little pebble at him, making Eleanor laugh.

"It's late, we must get some rest." Eleanor quickly stood up from the log.

"Uh, yes, you're right," He too stood up. "Goodnight, Eleanor."

"Goodnight, Arthur." She smiled at him before wandering away to her bed that had already been set up.

Arthur poured water over the warm fire which made a loud hissing sound. He looked over at the others and realised they were already comfortably sleeping away. He eventually sauntered over to his made bed and lied down on the blanket, staring up at the starry sky.

0000

"Where is she?" Nimueh glared into Kendrick's eyes. "Where is Hengist?"

"Your highness, I... Well, Hengist… He…" He stuttered.

"Tell me you have her!" She grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and pulled up.

"Well, I kidnapped her and then… She… She… Escaped. And Hengist… He's dead." He managed to speak.

Her eyes widened and her face began to turn a bright red. She grappled even tighter onto his collar. "How did you let her escape!? What happened to Hengist?" She yelled.

"A knight I think, the Prince and that servant boy of his came for her," He whimpered, struggling to breathe. "The Willdeoren killed Hengist."

She let go of his collar and scanned the room where Eleanor was once tied up. Everything was a mess and the chandelier was lying on the floor. Shattered pieces of glass were sprinkled all over the place.

"You have failed me." She glared at him, raising her hand.

"No, no, no, I promise, we can catch her again," He panicked as her eyes began to glow a bright red. "Please, I'm not like Hengist!"

"You're all useless!" She barked. Her hands grew a red mist until a fireball was projected into Kendrick's direction, sending him flying out of the window. He shrieked all the way down until there was a loud thump.

"I will get my revenge." She whispered before sharply leaving the room.

0000

Once the sun had risen, they were all quick to awaken. First, they had to make a rather long trek to the horses. Once they did, they clambered onto them and trotted all the way back to Camelot again. Eleanor had never felt so relieved to see the castle. She still couldn't quite believe she was still alive; live and well. As soon as they had entered the castle's entrance, that was when Eleanor knew she was completely safe once again. Arthur directed her through the castle to find Morgana staring blankly out of a window.

"There's someone here to see you." Arthur called, making Morgana turn her attention on him. Slowly, Eleanor revealed herself from behind Arthur and darted towards Morgana.

"Eleanor!" Morgana beamed as they embraced. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"So did I," She pulled away from her. "But I am safe now." Eleanor smiled and Morgana did too.

"Thank you, Arthur." Morgana thanked the Prince as he watched the reunion.

"No need to thank me." He said, looking over at the young Princess. They shared a smile until Arthur wandered away, leaving the women to hug once again.

_There's a log on the fire,_

_And it burns like me for you._

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**A/N: **The song lyrics belong to _Eagle Eye Cherry_, '_Save Tonight_' (My favourite song ever). I hope you liked this chapter. A little spoiler: Let me just say that the next Chapter is going to be one you've probably all been waiting for. ;) Don't forget to leave me your fabulous reviews, because I love them!

Until next time.


	13. All We Need is Candlelight

**A/N: **Like I always do, I would like to thank those who drop me a review every time I update. It means so much to me and I can't thank you guys enough! Thank you Rko for helping me with the plot, love you so much!

From this point forward, updating will become slightly irregular because school is starting on Monday for me. I will try to update as much as possible and I will also try my best to keep writing. Keep reviewing because they motivate me so much!

Anyway, enjoy the chapter. I know, it's kinda short.

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Eleanor was glad to see Morgana again and she was also glad to be back in Camelot, although she thought she'd never admit it.

Once her reunion with Morgana was over, Arthur thought it was best to come clean with his father. He, Jasper and Merlin had been missing from the castle for two days and Uther was most likely going to be outraged. Uther was probably the last person Eleanor wanted to see. He had vowed to her father that he'd protect her but in the end, he didn't do that. The only ones who had really protected her was her brother and the Prince. It angered her a little that Uther broke his vow, but then again, she knew she couldn't complain. If she dare did, she'd probably land herself in a lot of trouble. Her brother and Arthur accompanied Eleanor to the council chambers. As they entered, they noticed they were interrupting an important looking meeting due to the amount of people huddled round the table where the king was sat. Once Uther had acknowledged their presence, Uther was completely surprised to see them.

"Eleanor, Arthur, Jasper" Uther arose from his throne and took long strides in their direction, an expression of utter surprise painted on his face. "You are all safe. I sent search parties to look for you both. Arthur, Jasper, you went after Eleanor and left Camelot without my authorization?" He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. The three were getting themselves prepared for a loud outburst from the king.

"I am sorry, father, for disobeying you. Jasper and I were not going to allow Eleanor to die in the hands of Hengist. I had to do what was right." Arthur told him, straightening his back in a confident manner. Uther stared at him, still looking utterly surprised.

That was it, Eleanor was ready for the Prince to get a rambling from the king. But instead, a small smile grew on his face, much to her surprise. "You both risked your lives?" Uther glanced at the three before he continued to speak. Both Jasper and Arthur nodded their heads confidently "I am glad that Eleanor has not been harmed. Though you did disobey me, what matters is that you are all safe." It was as if a heavy weight was lifted off their chests. Eleanor wasn't expecting Uther to act so calmly about the whole situation.

Jasper smiled back at him, he too looking much more relaxed. "Thank you, sire, for being so understanding."

"We cannot let this happen again," Uther returned to being serious. "For the next few days, I do not want Eleanor out of castle grounds," The Princess gave out a sigh. "I want guards to patrol outside the castle grounds in case any trespassers are spotted."

"I can arrange that, sire." Jasper said.

"Good," He replied. The king then turned around to face all the men seated on the table behind him, eventually facing the three again. "I would like to speak with my son," He pronounced very clearly. With that, the king's advisers sharply left the room, including Jasper and Eleanor. The king and his son were now alone, leaving Arthur slightly concerned and wary. Uther paced in a circle for a few brief moments, in thought. "You went alone? No knights? Just you and Jasper, am I correct?" He asked.

Arthur paused to think. He didn't know if he was to answer truthfully, in fear that maybe he'd get in trouble. He knew his father very well but he couldn't lie to him. "Yes, father." He answered bravely. Arthur made sure he made eye contact with his father at all times.

The king glared at him, at first looking inevitably angry. All of sudden, his mood changed; he gave out a rather loud chuckle. The Prince stared at him blankly, not understanding what the amusement was all about. "You were willing to risk your life for her," He sauntered closer to him, placing his hand on his son's shoulder. "I must say, you were very brave. Were there any other intentions that I may be unaware of?" He hinted.

"I don't understand, father." The Prince raised an eyebrow.

"If the Princess did not mean so much to you, I am certain you would not have risked your life like that. I know my son well enough to know that." He said proudly, patting his son's shoulder. Arthur felt his cheeks turn warm. No, Uther really didn't know his son. However, not even Arthur's obvious affections for the Princess went unnoticed by the king.

"I could not lose her." He told him expressionlessly. Talking about feelings to his own father was something he wasn't exactly comfortable with, simply because his father was normally so cold and only worried about political matters.

"Why's that?" He asked. "It seems my son has taken a liking for Princess Eleanor." He grinned.

"I was only doing my duty as her bodyguard." The Prince said, hoping the topic would divert.

"If you say so, son," He patted him once again on his shoulder. With that, the Prince began to pace away from him and was leaving the council chamber, only to be stopped in his tracks. "Arthur." Uther called his son, making the Prince turn around to face him.

"Yes, father?" The Prince asked.

"You must not let her slip away," He strolled over to him. "The love I felt for your mother… The things I would do to bring such love back," Arthur thought about his mother often. As soon as Uther mentioned her, he saddened a little inside. "Think about it, son." He smiled at the Prince. The way Uther spoke surprised Arthur very much; he even thought of the possibility that his father had gone mad.

Arthur nodded at him. "I will, father." He said before promptly leaving the council chambers. As he wandered through the corridors, he let his father's words seep into his mind and thought about it thoroughly.

0000

"I've never met such a two faced king." Eleanor uttered in annoyance.

"Eleanor," Jasper glared at her. "If anybody were to hear you say that…"

"It's true. I wonder what father would think if he heard Uther hadn't protected me like he said he would." She crossed her arms and squinted her eyes at her brother.

"That is why father mustn't know about your kidnapping. He needn't worry about it. You're fine and you're safe. We don't want friction between Uther and father."

Their conversation was interrupted when there was a quick knock on the door. Eleanor strode over to the door and opened it to reveal Gwen carrying a tray with food. The smell of the food made Eleanor's stomach turn, not because it was disgusting but because she had lost all appetite in the past few days.

"I thought you'd be hungry, my lady, so I made breakfast," She walked in beaming and placed the tray on the table. "It is so great to have you back, Eleanor." She smiled sweetly, revealing her straight teeth.

"I am glad to be back in Camelot," The Princess smiled back at her. "And Gwen, you didn't have to worry about me. I think I've lost all my appetite." Eleanor admitted. She appreciated the kind gesture but she couldn't help but feel a little bad for her; she had probably put so much effort into making her something to eat. She was surprised at how Gwen was so caring.

"Are you sure? Have you eaten anything recently? You must have gone through a bad few days…" She seemed genuinely concerned.

"I don't want to be ungrateful but I really have lost all my appetite. Nonetheless, thank you very much, Gwen. I think _you_ deserve to eat," She told her, making Gwen widen her eyes in surprise. "Honestly, you have worked very hard; you deserve a treat every so often." Eleanor wandered over to the tray and placed it in Gwen's hands.

"Why, thank you, my lady… I don't know what to say," She smiled, still looking a little in shock. Eleanor wasn't surprised by her reaction; she knew that probably no royal had done such a gesture for her. "Excuse me." She bowed with a huge smile still across her face and then sauntered out of the chamber.

"Since when did you turn all nice?" Jasper grinned at his sister.

"What do you mean? I've always been nice." She playfully slapped him on the arm.

0000

"Morgause, what will we do now?" Nimueh asked the blonde woman sat beside her. "Hengist has failed me. I do not know what else I should do." She clenched her fist angrily.

"He was a fool since day one." Morgause told her, sipping wine from her gold goblet.

"All I know is that we cannot let her live and finish her destiny," Nimueh seethed. "Otherwise there will be no chances for us to rule Camelot together." She looked over at the blonde woman and glared into her eyes.

"We shall not lose hope," She grasped onto Nimueh's hands in a reassuring way. "We must believe in our capabilities. Together we are more powerful than any man that has stepped foot on this Earth. No one and nothing will stop us, Nimueh. One day in the near future, everybody in Camelot will bow down to us and we shall be their rulers. We _will _let magic live once again." She declaimed proudly.

"That is why I like you so much, Morgause," She grinned. "You have always been so confident. I truly believe that by your side, I am capable of anything."

"That is the spirit," She grinned back at the woman. "Now… what to do with our Princess Eleanor?" Nimueh chuckled hysterically.

"I have an idea," Morgause raised an eyebrow then looked over at her partner in crime. "Why not hit her right in the soft spot?"

"Whatever do you mean, Nimueh?"

"What matters the most to her? What is something that has always been very dear to her heart?" She hinted.

"Oh, you don't mean…" Morgause grinned.

"Yes, that's _exactly_ who I mean." The evil sorceress let out yet another hysterical laugh.

"What is the plan then?"

"I shall think of something later." Nimueh looked over at the woman and took a sip from the wine in her gold goblet.

0000

I was lying in bed but I couldn't close my eyes at all. I just stared into the canopy of my bed, my mind completely blank. So much had happened recently that I couldn't rest peacefully. My appetite had gone and so had my freedom. I didn't know much longer I could continue living enclosed. The kidnapper had managed to take me and I wasn't going to let that happen ever again. The downside to the whole situation was that whoever Nimueh was, she is probably out there seething in anger as she hasn't met me yet. Again, no matter how hard I tried to recollect where I had heard her name before, I couldn't figure it out. As I was frying my brain away, I heard a soft knocking on the door and the door creaked as it slowly opened.

"Hello?" My heart raced a little as I couldn't see clearly who the person was, just a black, shadowy figure.

"It's Arthur," The Prince whispered. I relaxed a little. I pushed the covers aside and walked over to him, my feet tingling because of the cold floor. "Merlin tells me you haven't eaten. Gwen too." He said in a concerned tone.

Why did he wake me up to tell me that? I was well aware I was practically starving myself but it was up to me if I was hungry or not. And to be honest, I was not hungry at all. My stomach let out a rumble every now and then but the thought of food sickened me a little. _"Maybe it was the mouldy bread." _I thought inwardly. "Yes, but there's no need to be concerned. I've not been feeling myself lately." I admitted, lowering my head slightly.

"Well then, I should do something about it." He said and grabbed onto my hand, which took me by surprise. He tugged at it slightly, noticing I was slightly reluctant to go but eventually I let him take me where ever he was taking me. We strolled over to his chamber and we stopped in front of the door.

"Um, what are you doing, Arthur?" I raised an eyebrow. I was standing in front of his chamber and I had no clue what was happening.

He glanced at me then slowly pushed the door open to reveal a candle lit dinner, much to my surprise. He wandered over to the table but I stood exactly where I was, my eyes widened. Had he really done that for me? And why did he go through all the effort? "I hope you're hungry." He grinned at me and sat by the candle lit table where there were two plates already topped with food.

"You… What's all this for?" I asked him, still quite in shock at the whole thing. I sauntered over to the seat opposite him but before I could sit down, he quickly scurried by my side and pulled out the chair. "Thank you, Arthur." I smiled at him.

"I hope you're going to eat something." He grinned, sitting back down in his chair. The plates were filled with meat, salad and a whole bunch of other things. I even noticed that beside the candle was a vase holding a red rose. "You did this?" I grinned. The Prince couldn't have possibly found the time to do such a thing.

"Yes," He said confidently but I eyed him suspiciously. "Well, Merlin did the preparing but it was my idea after all." I giggled at his response. I found it so typical of Prince Arthur but for some reason, I found the whole situation adorable.

"You didn't have to go through such lengths for me." I blushed slightly.

"That's where you are wrong," He filled up our empty goblets with wine. "You deserve something like this, especially after everything you have been through, Eleanor."

"Thank you, for this… I can't thank you enough." I said, finding it hard to gather words at his kindness. Who knew? Prince Arthur wasn't the arrogant prat I knew him to be.

"There is no need to thank me," He smiled so sincerely that I felt my heart jump. "Try and eat something." He pointed at the food on my plate.

"I'm starving." I said, giving out a small laugh in the process. For some odd reason, in just a mere five minutes, Arthur had managed to convince me to eat. It was as if the appetite that was missing suddenly came to me all at once. And I had to admit, although it wasn't the Prince who made it, the food looked surprisingly appetising.

We sat there in silence as we ate away at our food. He made sure to top up my goblet every time I took a small sip. I still couldn't believe that Prince Arthur had planned something like this for me, especially because no man really had done something so nice for me. Throughout the whole dinner, every time he looked up at me, I melted a little inside and made sure to hide my blush any time possible. I could tell he noticed he was making me nervous because he wouldn't stop smirking at me. Oh, that smirk of his. Eventually, we finished eating and my stomach felt like it was going to explode from the amount of food I had managed to take in. But I was feeling much better and I was no longer starving myself.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked me, leaning forward in his seat.

"Much better, I have to admit. I thought you wouldn't convince me to eat." I chuckled. I really didn't think he would. If my brother couldn't, then normally that would mean nobody else could knock down my barrier either.

"Why's that?" He questioned curiously.

"I'm stubborn. A little stubborn." I grinned playfully at him.

"I think that makes you special." He grinned back, making me feel utterly flattered. Something about the way he made me feel was unexplainable. For a few silent moments, we just stared into each other's eyes. No talking, no nothing, just simple staring.

"Well, I'm afraid I really must head back to my chamber." I broke the silence, lifting myself up from my seat in the process.

"I'll escort you." He said, he too lifting himself up from the seat at the same time.

I walked towards the door but then turned around sharply to face the Prince once again, which seemed to have taken him by surprise. "Arthur, I mean it when I say I'm grateful for everything you have done for me." And I really was.

"I know you mean it." He said, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly to create a smile.

"It's not just that," I looked into his eyes. "The things you have done… No man has ever done for me. I am truly grateful. I don't understand why you care so much." And why did he, considering he hasn't exactly known me for that long?

"Eleanor, I truly care about you, more than you could imagine." He told me softly.

"But why?" I questioned.

"I just do, Eleanor." He said simply. For some reason, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. For once, I felt important and cared for. I could tell he was surprised by my action but then he eventually let his arms wrap around me. I had never felt so safe in my life.

Eventually, we pulled apart and we were now so close to each other, it was almost unbearable. He looked down at me while I looked up at him. He was looking at me in a way he hadn't before. As I gazed into his blue eyes, I hadn't noticed I let a smile grow on my face. The butterflies in my stomach were fluttering away and my heart rate began to inexplicably race faster.

He put his hand under my chin and lifted my head a little bit more. He looked into my eyes then at my lips. Before I knew it, he slowly leaned in, his soft lips crashing onto mine, taking me completely by surprise. At first, I stiffened up but eventually I gave in and couldn't resist; I wrapped my arms around his neck once again where they stayed comfortably. Arthur let his hands rest on the small of my back and once he noticed I had given in, he pulled me in closer. We stood there for at least two minutes, kissing like there was no tomorrow. It was short but it felt like forever, not that it was a bad thing at all.

I slowly pulled myself away from him and immediately I felt my cheeks turn red.

"I was… I" He stuttered. I noticed he became just as nervous.

"Oh, uh…" I stuttered as well, finding it hard to form a coherent sentence. "Goodnight, Arthur." I gave him a quick peck on the side of his lip and once I did, I darted out of his chamber faster than lightening.

Once I had reached the safety of my chamber, I closed the door and leaned up against it. And I then remembered the other time I did that; on that night where I found the Prince in Gaius' chamber. He managed to make me feel nervous that night and he had still managed tonight. I let my heartbeat slow down and strangely, I pinched myself_. "Okay, this is real." _I confirmed to myself. I wasn't dreaming, that was for sure. _"I actually kissed Prince Arthur." _I thought. I bit my lip as my thoughts wandered back to the kiss that had just happened a minute ago. But I quickly snapped myself out of it and clambered back into my bed. I dug myself underneath the covers and sighed. _"I kissed him." _I proclaimed proudly to myself with a silly smirk stretched across my face. _"No, stop it."_ I told myself and I dug my head deeper into the pillow.

For some reason, I kept wondering to myself if he was in his room doing the same thing as me or if he was thinking about the kiss too. The fact that I had no idea just made the whole situation even more exciting.

_Go on and close the curtains,_  
_'Cause all we need is candlelight._  
_You and me, and a bottle of wine,_  
_To hold you tonight._

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**A/N: **What did you guys think? I hope you liked the moment Arthur and Eleanor had. :) Song lyrics belong to _Eagle Eye Cherry_, '_Save Tonight_'.

Until next time (which I hope will be soon).


	14. Destinies and Dragons

**ATTENTION: **I'VE PUBLISHED A **_NEW_ **MERLIN STORY! CHECK IT OUT! "_For Richer or For Poorer?"_

First things first, I am not giving up on this story about Eleanor/Arthur. I was in school daydreaming when this fantastic plot idea came to me and I was eager to write it up. And so I did. It's an Modern AU on the love story between Gwen/Arthur. If that's already interested you, take a look and leave me a review if you think I should carry on! Thanks!

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**A/N:** Thank you to those who have reviewed! I was desperate to put up Chapter 14 and luckily today, I left school earlier and made the most of the time to finish writing up the chapter so sorry if it is a little sloppier than usual.

Reply to **LadyMorganaPendragon**: I wonder what would happen... ;)

Anyway, don't forget to review/follow/favourite! Enjoy. If you have any ideas you would like to see be incorporated in my story, do tell me because they help me a lot. Lately, I've been having terrible writer's block to the point of frustration. But I managed to surpass that and publish a chapter today. :)

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Morgana dragged me out of my chamber early in the morning and forced me to take a walk with her around the castle. I wasn't going to say no of course, she was my friend and she had missed me so much. She always made sure I was up to date with the latest gossip and news. As we were walking peacefully, I began to drift off in my own world. Everything Morgana was saying was going straight into one ear and then straight out the other. Of course I was still thinking about the kiss that had happened the night before. I still had to pinch myself every now and then to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. I hadn't seen him since last night and to be quite frank, I wasn't sure if I was prepared to see him. I kept thinking about if things were going to be strange between us or if we were going to pretend like nothing happened. I preferred the second option.

"Eleanor? Have you been listening to me at all for the past five minutes?" Morgana asked me, chuckling at my blank expression.

I shook my head to return back to Earth. "Sorry, what?"

She crossed her arms and then raised an eyebrow at me. I just hoped she wasn't suspicious of anything. What if one of the servants had seen me leave Arthur's chamber so late in the night? And to top it all off, I was only wearing a nightdress. What on Earth would they think? Oh, the scandalous rumours that would come out of that. Morgana had warned me of that on the first day I stepped foot in Camelot.

"I was saying that I still haven't found you a suitor." She grinned happily.

"Morgana, I don't need a suitor." I replied assertively with a grin. I was still zoned out a little.

She sighed and eyed me suspiciously. "Come on, Eleanor, tell me what's wrong." She said.

Now, the hard part. I had to come up with a plausible excuse for my daydreaming but Morgana wasn't stupid at all. In fact, she knew me so well and we'd only been friends for over a month. I thought of a million excuses to use and then decided to go with probably the least believable one. "I didn't sleep at all last night." I lied to her.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Her eyes widened. Okay, it seemed she had fallen for it.

"No, no," I reassured, letting a small smile stretch across my face. "I just haven't been sleepy at all lately. Have you had any nightmares?"

She looked down at the floor and instantly I knew the answer. Her nightmares were becoming recurrent and I worried for her. "Sadly, yes… But I've been managing them. They're just scary, that's all. Gaius' medicine doesn't work most of the time."

"Do you always see the same thing?"

"No, I see a mix of things. Most of the time I don't understand what I'm seeing," I could tell she didn't like talking about her nightmares because her tone would change drastically from happy to sad. "Last night, I had a nightmare… And your mother and sister appeared in it."

I suddenly remembered the night I had the nightmare where I too had dreamt of my mother and sister. I crossed my fingers and just hoped she wasn't going to say what I thought she was going to say. "What was it about? What was happening?"

"Well, I'm not sure… All I remember was seeing them crying. I had no idea where I was. And then I saw this woman... I just sensed evil. And that's all I can recollect of my nightmare," Oh God, she had said what I was hoping she wasn't going to say. Did we dream of the same thing? No, it just couldn't be, it was impossible yet somehow it happened. That's when I started to become very unsettled. "I know, it scared me too but my nightmares have never come to life. Like Gaius tells me, it was just a nightmare." She said, noticing I had stiffened.

"Yes, of course," I smiled at her reassuringly. "It's just a nightmare." I was beginning to think that Gaius' idea about them only being nightmares was wrong. It isn't normal for two people to dream of the same thing, right?

As we approached the castle's square, I noticed Arthur and his men were there, huddled in a group. Immediately, I felt my heart beat faster and I knew I had to avoid him at all costs. "Morgana, why don't we turn back?" I smiled at her, hoping she would agree with me.

"Why? I thought you were too tired to walk." She grinned at me. Now I had to come up with another plausible excuse and it wasn't going to be any easier this time.

"I know, I know, but my legs need exercising." We were approaching closer and closer to the men. I instinctively grabbed onto her arm and spun her round so that we were walking in the other direction.

"What's up with you?" Morgana raised an eyebrow a grin still on her face.

"Nothing," I faked smiled. "Nothing at all. Now, let's walk some more." I said, making Morgana chuckle.

"Are you ill?" She placed her hand on my forehead and pulled away when she realised my temperature was normal.

"No, Morgana. I just really want to get exercise." I told her. She chuckled once again at my response. I was almost certain she knew my intentions.

0000

After the pleasantly long walk Morgana and I had, she had to attend some important meetings and it seemed Arthur had to too. I was terribly bored and it seemed everybody was busy, including my brother. As I was strolling in the corridors doing absolutely nothing in the world, Merlin came out of Arthur's chamber carrying the remains of last night's dinner I had with the Prince. As soon as he caught sight of me, he came darting into my direction with a smirk on his face.

"So, how was it?" He asked me.

"How was what?" I said naively knowing exactly what he was talking about.

He raised the plates in his hands a little higher. "Dinner. With the prat." He chuckled.

"Oh, right," I said, still acting as if I only found out that very moment what he was talking about. "It was… nice." I smiled at him.

"That's it?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Oh, and the food was great, Merlin." I patted him on the shoulder.

"He actually told you _I_ made the food?" Merlin's eyes widened.

"Well, I forced it out of him but I knew instantly it can't have been him." I giggled, making him sigh.

"What a dollop head," He rolled his eyes. "I better get these to the kitchen." He said grinning. And with that, he scurried away from me with the plates in his hand.

Once again, I was left alone to do absolutely nothing and I gave out a rather long sigh. I decided to head to my chamber and get some rest since there was nobody to talk to. I wasn't tired at all but a bit of beauty sleep wouldn't hurt. After entering my chamber, I slumped myself on my bed and closed my eyes.

I must have slept for at least one hour because my eyes were heavy and my dress was slightly crinkly.

"Eleanor," A deep voice whispered in my head. I quickly looked around my chamber and realised nobody was there. My name was called once again, and then again and then again.

"Hello?" I asked, rolling my eyes from left to right. Again, the deep voice called my name in my head. I clenched my head thinking maybe I was going crazy but the voice called my name again and I was certain I wasn't turning mad.

I jumped out of my bed and put on the first boots that came into sight. Once I did, I walked out of my chamber and into the corridor, only to intensify the loudness of the voice. Great, not only was I dreaming of strange things but now I was hearing things too. I looked left and then right and there was nobody in sight. In fact, everything was quieter than normal. Then all of sudden, the voice stopped and I began to relax knowing it was gone.

"Eleanor." The male voice called again, startling me. It was louder than it was in my chamber. I walked away from my chamber and starting slowly strolling through the corridors and I noticed the voice was becoming louder and louder, as if I was getting closer to the source. As I followed the voice, I noticed I began to enter dark corridors where there was hardly any light. It seemed like nobody had gone through these corridors for years by the amount of cobwebs there was lying around. I grabbed onto a torch and hovered it close to a flame where the torch soon ignited.

"Hello?" I said, my voice echoing in the almost empty corridors.

"Eleanor." The whispery voice called and it was louder than it was before. I knew I was getting closer and closer to whoever was saying my name. And I was clearly the only one listening to it.

I then reached the end of the corridor where there was a barred, metal gate. I presumed it was locked since it seemed nobody had ever walked through the corridor. But to my surprise, I gave the door a gentle push and it opened. I looked through the tunnel and it was dark but the voice was not only getting louder but was getting clearer. I looked back and saw nobody so I walked into the tunnel with my torch close by. The further I walked, the darker it got. Had I just discovered a secret passage way of some sort?

I walked and walked and the voice was getting clearer by the second, almost as if the person was standing next to me. Eventually, I reached the end of the tunnel where I stopped. I had reached a dead end and I was now in an even bigger cave. But I looked down and down below was a huge drop.

"Where are you?" I called. There was nobody or nothing in the large cave.

The voice laughed, however this time, it wasn't coming from my head. "I'm here." Suddenly, a large, scaly dragon flew down from above and sat himself down on the rocks a couple of metres in front of me. Instinctively, I backed away and gaped as I looked at it. I turned back and was about to make a run for it but it called my name. "Eleanor, do not be frightened." The dragon spoke. I turned around and looked at it. I swear I saw it smile at me. I shook my head and even wiped my face with my hand but the dragon was still there. Okay, so I wasn't hallucinating.

It gazed at me quizzically while I stood completely frozen. "How small you are for such a great destiny." It grinned at me.

I raised my eyebrows at it. First of all, how did it know my name? And second of all, why was it speaking? Speaking dragons are completely unheard of. "Why? What do you mean? What destiny?" I asked.

"You are in Camelot for a reason." It spoke.

"Oh right, thanks for being so useful." I uttered in annoyance.

"Arthur is the Once and Future king who will unite the land of Albion." The enormous dragon leaned in closer.

"Right…"

"He faces many threats."

"I don't see how this has to do with me." I said, still completely confused as to what he was blabbering on about.

"Everything."

I paused for a second and thought about everything he just said. "No, no, no, you've got this all wrong. You must have the wrong Eleanor."

"You are the right Eleanor, young one."

"And how would you know? In fact, how do you even know me? Who are you?" I asked him.

"A curious one you are," The talking lizard gave out a small laugh. "Everybody knows you. Arthur's destiny had once been planned; however, that destiny was wrong. And so was yours."

"It was wrong? Oh please, destiny cannot be changed."

"That is what you believe," He leaned in even closer. "Arthur was once destined to be with another. However, you are now part of his destiny whether or not you wish to be."

"What was wrong with his other destiny?" I was becoming a little more curious. The dragon was clearly knowledgeable about the whole destiny thing.

"The Once and Future Queen he had chosen was wrong. She did not fit as Queen of Camelot." He said simply. I was now left to wonder who had once managed to steal the Prince's heart. But I literally had no idea what kind of woman would have fallen in love with a prat head like Arthur. And who was it possible to change destinies? There was no way somebody could just change up a person's destiny just like that.

"Well… I'd better not get in the way of true love and leave him to be."

"You cannot leave him. You do not have the courage," He chuckled. No, it couldn't be. Nothing made sense; there was no way in hell I was destined to be Queen of Camelot. And anyway, why would I listen to a speaking lizard? "You have much to go through. Pain, sadness, suffering and learning but in the end, you shall receive your well-earned happiness."

"Right… And why should I listen to you?" I squinted and pointed at it in an intimidating manner.

"Because I know more than you. I know your destiny. I know everything. I believe you have had dreams where you have communicated with a woman?" He bragged.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah… How do you know that?" I asked him, shocked at how he could possibly have known that. "No… Just no. Nothing makes sense. You're a talking dragon for god's sake. First of all, I will _not_ fall in love with Arthur and second of all, I will return home as soon as it is possible. I will not be staying in Camelot permanently. You can't change that, nobody can. The Prince will fall in love with some other woman and they'll live happily ever after." I announced confidently.

"Your destiny has already been chosen, you cannot change that. You say these things now but later on, you will regret every word you have said," He grinned. "I must go now, young one."

"Wait, before you go," But as I uttered those words, he spread his large wings and began to fly up again to where he was before. "Who's the woman in my dreams?!" I yelled at it as it flew further and further above. But it didn't answer me. Maybe it was best if I didn't find out.

With that, I walked out of the tunnel and decided to head back to my chamber as I let the dragon's words seep into my brain. I thought of everything he said, every little detail. It seemed everybody around here talked about destiny but very little was revealed. I was now even more desperate to figure out what my life was to be in Camelot. All I knew was that there was no way I was going to ever be Queen of Camelot. In fact, there was a higher chance of me falling off a cliff today then becoming Queen, ever.

I blew out the flame that had ignited my torch and dropped it beside the barred gate. I was afraid that I was in prohibited areas of the castle so I made sure to quicken my pace as I wandered back to my chamber. Once I started to reach the lit up corridors where there were no cobwebs, I sighed in relief that nobody had spotted me. I must have spent awhile down there and I hoped nobody noticed I was missing, especially because there was no way I was going to come up with an excuse for my absence. _"Oh, I was just talking with a dragon who apparently knows everything about my destiny." _I joked inwardly. I was reaching my chamber when suddenly, somebody grabbed me by the arm out of nowhere and pulled me into their direction, startling me and taking me behind a pillar.

"Arthur! You scared me." I placed my hand on my chest and felt my heart beat faster.

"Sorry," He grinned cheekily. "Where have you been?" He asked me. Great, the question I was avoiding was being asked.

"I was… Just walking around the castle." I crossed my arms. I just hoped he wouldn't question me and just left it at that.

"I wanted to ask you something..." He said. I noticed he became a little nervous and I did too because I was worried what kind of question it was going to be. I waited for him to continue and I just raised an eyebrow at him. "About last night."

Last night. I was hoping he wasn't going to bring that up. "Oh, what about it?" I said, as if it was the most normal thing ever.

"We kissed. I can't help but think… you hate me for it." He looked into my eyes and I literally saw the sadness in him.

"God, Arthur, I couldn't possibly hate you for something like that." I told him softly.

"Good, because I'd been wanting to do that for a while." He admitted, making me blush so bad I felt my cheeks boil.

"Wait… You have?" I asked him, shocked he would have admitted something like that to me. "Since when?"

He brushed away the hair that had covered my ear. "That day I went horse-riding with you." He whispered in my ear softly.

"What about when I leave for Darcia? I won't be staying in Camelot forever. It's not like we'll be able to see each other often." I made sure to remind him and strangely, I felt a part of me sadden as I said those words.

"What matters," He placed his hands on the small of my back like he did the night before and gazed into my eyes, pulling me in a little closer. "Is that you are already here." And once he had spoken those words, he leaned in and kissed me for the second time. And for some reason, I didn't stiffen up nor did I hesitate in the slightest. I placed both my hands on the sides of his face and let them rest there. Something about him was constantly drawing me in.

Reluctantly, he pulled away from me as we heard footsteps coming in our direction. I signalled for the Prince to be quiet, placing my index finger against my lips and he nodded. As soon as the servant had walked by and vanished into a chamber, I looked at him and we gave out a small laugh.

"Would it matter if she had seen us?" Arthur asked me with his hands still wrapped around my waist, smirking away.

As I looked into his eyes, I couldn't help but feel I was almost stealing the Prince. Apparently, he was supposed to be with another and here I was, kissing him like it was the most normal thing ever. Was I doing what was right? I couldn't help but let that question ponder.

But I'm Eleanor, and I never do what is right. "Would it matter to you?" I grinned stupidly at him.

"Not at all." He said, slowly leaning in once again. As soon as his lips touched mine, it was like sparks flew. I couldn't just stay away from him, it was impossible.

"Eherm. What are you both doing behind this pillar?" Merlin coughed, startling both me and the Prince who was now smirking at us both. Immediately, we pulled away from each other as if nothing at all had happened.

"Merlin! How long were you there for?" Arthur growled at him.

"I was… Um… Only a few seconds," He made sure not share any eye contact with him or me. We all stood there for a few seconds in silence, just awkwardly staring at one another. "Your father wants to speak to you. Another, um, important meeting I think."

"I'll be there in a second." Arthur shooed him.

"Oh, right." And with that, he quickly scurried away from sight, leaving the Prince and me alone again.

He let that sweet smile of his stretch across his face as he looked at me. It somehow always managed to make me melt inside. "Sadly, I must leave," He sighed. "I will speak to you later." He smiled and kissed my forehead.

"Alright, Arthur. Off you go, you don't want to be late." I grinned at him and eventually, he walked away.

As soon as Arthur had disappeared from sight, I was eager to find Merlin and confront him about what he had seen. He wandered in the direction where me and Arthur's chamber is so I thought of the possibility of him being in one of the rooms. I sauntered over to my chamber, opened the door and called for him. No response. I walked over to Arthur's chamber door, opened it and peered in. "Merlin?" I called again.

And from behind the screen came Merlin carrying a hand load of dirty clothing. "Eleanor? Is something wrong?" He mumbled, the mountain of clothes reaching his face.

"Yes," Instantly, I closed the door behind me and wandered closer to the boy. "I don't think I have to tell you…"

"Not to tell anyone about what I saw? Got it." Merlin peered his head around the clothing and gave me a cheeky smile.

"Thank you, Merlin." I said. And thank goodness for that, I didn't want anybody to find out through rumours.

He was about to walk away when suddenly he stopped in his tracks. "Oh, what, um, were you doing in the caves down in the castle?" He asked with one eyebrow raised. Oh no, I was hoping nobody would have noticed but apparently Merlin had seen me. I was almost certain there was nobody there. How am I going to come up with a good excuse now?

"Oh, I was… checking it out?" I said. I realised I probably sounded extremely ridiculous.

"Checking it out?" He repeated, looking absolutely unconvinced.

"Yes," I looked at him and his eyebrow was still raised. "Merlin, I was bored."

"Right," He gave out a small laugh. "So, um, did you see anything interesting?"

"Apart from cobwebs, no, not really." I lied. Who would believe me if I told them I went to speak with a dragon anyway? Who knows, maybe I was just hallucinating.

"What were you really doing down there?" He squinted his eyes at me.

"Merlin, I was just checking it out, nothing else." I continued to lie to him.

"Alright," He said. However, he still looked unconvinced. "Well, it's a little dangerous down there. I'd stay away just in case." He warned, once again smiling at me.

"Will do." I smiled back at him. Eventually, he left and I finally breathed a sigh of relief. "_Phew, that was close_." I thought inwardly. I just hoped Merlin wasn't suspicious of anything because there was no way anybody could find out what I was doing down there.

Once I had snapped out of my thoughts, I realised I was still standing in Arthur's chambers and made sure to quickly and swiftly leave without getting noticed. My mind was clouded now with thoughts. And there was one word that wouldn't stop echoing in my mind: Destiny.

* * *

**A/N: **What'dya think? Let me know! Also, don't be afraid to let me know of any questions/doubts you're having related to the story.

Until next time.


	15. PLEASE READ

Hey everyone, it's been awhile! First things first, I have some bad news and some good news. Oh, and I'm so sorry if I made you think this was an update… Please forgive me!

The bad news: I'm afraid I've been so busy that I have had NO time at all to even begin writing the next chapter. I have not even started. I have been busy studying and I already have a bunch of tests in the next three weeks. So I'm afraid the chances of you guys getting an update anytime soon are slim to none, sadly. Also, I've been having terrible writers block to the point of frustration. I have been sizzling my brain so much and it's proving quite difficult for me. I don't want to make any of you panic but I have been considering giving up on this story… I've been getting a million ideas for a Supernatural fanfiction (love the show) and well, Merlin has sort of been drifting away I'm afraid. BUT, I have not officially given up on this story so please bear with me.

And now the good news (well, at least I think it's somewhat good): I will most likely be updating sometime during December-January (Basically during the Christmas holidays). Oh, and I don't have holidays in October like most schools do. Things are tougher here. I know, you're thinking "Omg, that's so long!" But you have to understand that tests are much more important than writing fanfiction and I need good grades desperately. I'm afraid there's no other way round this other than for you guys to be patient (I'm probably the most impatient person ever so I understand why some of you might be furious at me). I'm actually being very serious: every week until the Christmas holidays, I am booked with tests.

Think positive! In the holidays, I will have more time to think straight and write carefully because when I write in a hurry or I am stressed, my writing becomes sloppy and I'd rather post a good chapter than a badly written one.

Once again, I apologise from the bottom of my heart. I wish I had more time to write but I really don't… AND AGAIN, I'm so sorry. Although I did say I would update in the holidays, I can't promise anything.

Until next time (if there is one). Thank you to everyone who has supported me, love you all.


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